Higher Learning
by Arigatomina
Summary: HP crossover. When Snape is revealed as a spy, Kurama and Hiei are set up as guards at Hogwarts. If Voldemort wants to pursue his new vendetta, he'll have to get through them first.
1. Students Arrive, Invalid Werewolf

**Forewarning:** This takes place at the beginning of the 6th year, following the '_Order of the Pheonix_,' and the main Harry Potter characters are Snape and Lupin, with student focus on Hermione and Draco (not as a couple, they're just the two HP teens whose characterizations I like best). There will be classes and interaction, but it will focus more on the teachers than the students. Most of the story will be from the YYH characters' perspective, and the Professors. I've yet to find a HP/YYH fic that focused on the adults, or even one where Kurama and Hiei were open demons. If you're looking for a great undercover-teen fic, I'd recommend 'The Best Defense.' It's my favorite HP-YYH fic to date, with a sequel to boot.

**Note:** I don't care for the movie depiction of some characters, particularly Lupin, bad casting in my opinion, especially where his werewolf form is concerned (completely contradicting the book). I'll be going off the descriptions given in the books, but don't be surprised if my take is different at times.

**Quick Summary:** After Snape is revealed as a spy, Dumbledore calls in some favors from an old friend. Kurama and Hiei are set up as guards at Hogwarts, with a message that soon becomes clear. If Voldemort wants to pursue his new vendetta, he'll have to go through them first.

Warnings: none yet, will have adult themes of angst, violence, and romance  
Author: Arigatomina  
Email: arigatoumina (a) hotmail . com  
Website: www . arigatomina . com

**Higher Learning**

_Part 1: Students Arrive; Invalid Werewolf_

The students arrived with a general murmur that could have been heard in any school. They were a motley crew, as far as age and height went, but the majority was male, with the typical coloring of brown and cream and indefinitely English. Naturally so, as far as Kurama was concerned. From what he'd been told, the wizarding schools were broken according to region, and all of the professors at this particular school had English accents.

But the students were all so pale and scrawny, he couldn't help but wonder what sort of lives they lived outside of Hogwarts. Aside from a select few bullies, easily spotted by their large bulky bodies and visibly dumb faces, the students were reed thin. He supposed it was really no wonder, considering their entire focus was on waving an arm, rather than anything physical.

Watching them, he allowed an exception to that observation. The Quiddich players were a little different. He'd heard enough about them to pick out the beaters – their arms gave them away, no where near as flaccid or bony as the rest of the wand-wavers. Still, those few did nothing to dispel his first impression of wizarding children as stick-figures who'd be easily beaten in a physical confrontation.

Kurama watched impartially from the shadowed doorway, filing away that observation as one more thing to tell his friends when this mission was over.

The students were taking their places at the long tables that filled the open room, preparing for their ritual speech and feast. None of them really noticed the shadow that flickered over to the edge of the crowd.

He watched until Hiei had taken a seat at the table designated for Slytherin students. With his friend in position to see everything in the hall, Kurama slipped away.

Hiei's eyes flashed as the shadow disappeared in the doorway across the wide hall from him. Then he turned his gaze to the table where the professors sat, and waited. He didn't have a long wait.

A boy centered on him, stopping to stare down at him with a raised eyebrow. The slicked pale blonde hair made Hiei think of Yusuke's brand of conceit, and he returned the boy's gaze with just a hint of a smirk.

Draco Malfoy was confused by the presence of some stranger at his table. His first thought was that the boy was a first year who'd somehow slipped past Hagrid and snuck into the hall.

But he wasn't dressed as a student. The small black-haired boy was wearing an unusual cloak, with a white scarf wrapped loosely around his neck and a rather unfashionable white headband. That alone would have been enough to attract Draco's notice, if that gravity-defying hair hadn't done so already.

The boy's complete disregard of him, though…that told him this was not just a confused student, but a confused mudblood student.

"Are you a first year?" asked Draco.

Hiei watched the sneer that spread over the pale boy's face, and he let his smirk widen just enough to be noticeable.

This, then, was a Death Eater's son. Interesting.

"No," said Hiei.

He turned away, focusing again on the professors seated at the head of the room. He didn't so much as glance back when Draco bristled at his blatant disregard.

His Slytherin comrades were staring at him, waiting for his direction on how to take the insult, and Draco fumed. He didn't know who this was, and he didn't want to risk alienating the wrong person – as he'd done with Potter so long ago. But to insult him on sight, to completely ignore him like that as if he were no one?

He sent a sharp look toward the table the strange boy was staring so fixedly at. And he blinked in surprise. Dumbledore was returning the stranger's stare with a small, knowing smile.

Draco's face closed off, and he shook his head at his flunkies. Until he knew who he was dealing with, he wouldn't try to engage him.

The boy sat down without another word.

Leaning an elbow on the table in front of him, Hiei let his gaze roam over the students. There was quite a buzz going around, just from his simple presence among them. It was enough to distract them from their little sorting ceremony. Hiei noted that with a marked amusement. They were all so set in the ritual, the children didn't know what to make of a single change. But then, he was a conspicuous change.

Hiei couldn't help but smirk at the ragged whispers muffling around the room as Dumbledore began his speech. They were wondering why the man hadn't mentioned him, wondering if the man had even noticed him. Who was he? Why was he sitting there? So many questions overlapping that the empty place at the professor's table didn't get nearly as much attention as Hiei's mere presence did.

As he looked over the room, returning and disregarding the curious and worried stares, Hiei spotted a small cluster of students who were staring at the empty space and not so much as looking at him. He focused on these students, recognizing the mussy-haired boy as the infamous Potter he'd been told so much about. The boy was waving his hands and staring at that empty seat.

Hiei sneered, amused that the boy would be more concerned with who the new teacher was, than with the mysterious stranger in their midst.

What a skewed sense of priorities.

.-.

"Who do you think it will be?" asked Harry.

"I hope it's not another sop like Umbridge," Ron grumbled.

"It shouldn't be," said Hermione. "Dumbledore has complete freedom over who he chooses this year. All of those rules from last year were revoked, you know. Fudge is walking on ice around him now, trying to keep on his good side. It's especially important for him since the parents realize we wasted an entire year when we should have been preparing to defend ourselves. I hear they're pushing Fudge to help Dumbledore find the best teacher he can. After all, this year Defense Against the Dark Arts is going to be the most important class for anyone hoping to survive an attack by You-Know-Who."

Harry gave a distracted nod, not really hearing more than the sound of Hermione giving a lecture. "So who do you think the new professor will be?"

Hermione sighed, her shoulders slumping. They just never listened. "Snape."

"No!" said Harry.

"No way!" echoed Ron.

The two boys looked at each other for a moment before turning outraged frowns on the girl. Hermione just shrugged, her expression doubtful.

"He does look like he's gotten his way about something," she said.

The boys turned back to look at the teacher in question, Ron bumping the table in surprise.

"What did he do to his hair!" he demanded, staring open-mouthed up at the table.

Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes. "He probably washed it. About time, really. He couldn't expect to get advanced if he doesn't even bother to look the part. It's too long to just let it hang all the time."

She made a face at the memory, before looking up again. With his hair pulled back, the gleam in Snape's eyes was much more blantant. It made her uneasy, worse than it had when he'd glared down his nose at them in class, that greasy mane falling in his face. Now he looked focused, still dangerous and bitter, spiteful, but also eerily pleased. The tight twist to his smile just made her want to whip around and see what her friends had done wrong - what they'd messed up to make him so pleased with himself.

"He looks just like he does when he catches Harry breaking a rule," said Hermione.

Harry grumbled irritably that it was too soon in the year for Snape to have anything on him. But he did check out that disturbing smirk. And he realized the professor was staring over at the Slytherin table. He followed the man's gaze, wondering what there would have him smirking like that. He abruptly jumped, bumping the table as much as Ron had.

A small dark-haired stranger was looking directly at him, as if he'd just been waiting for Harry to notice him. And something about the guy's smirk was so similar to Snape's that it frankly creeped Harry out.

"Hey," Harry whispered to his friends, "look at that guy over there."

Hermione sent him a funny look, but by the time she saw who Harry was referring to, the boy was focused on the Professor's table again. She frowned first at the stranger, then at Snape, and then at Harry. "Do you know him?"

"No," Harry said sharply. "But he's the one Snape's looking at. Creepy, isn't he?"

"He's at the Slytherin table," said Ron. "Maybe he's a new student and just forgot his uniform - so Snape's all happy about getting to punish a new kid the first day back. I wasn't really paying attention to the sorting."

"I don't think so," Harry frowned.

Since she was still watching the professor, Hermione noticed when Snape turned his attention to Dumbledore. She glanced over at Harry and Ron, and shushed them quickly.

"He's talking about the Defense class," she whispered.

Most of the whispers in the hall stopped as the students waited to hear who would be filling the post this year. Since no teacher lasted longer than a year, it was a popular subject for bets - who it would be, how long the professor would last, and how he would lose the position - be it death, possession, expulsion, or what-have-you.

"And I'm happy to be welcoming back a former professor," Dumbledore was saying, the usual calm and lightly amused smile firm on his face, "to take the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Unfortunately he was unable to join us this evening, but until he's ready to assume the position full-time, our esteemed Potion's Master, Professor Snape, will be covering both classes."

A silent shockwave of denial swept over the room, most of that concentrated at the Gryffindor table. Specifically, the denial was a mental scream from Ron and Harry, who looked ready to swallow their tongues in hopes of a quick and merciful death. They barely heard the cheers and applause from their Slytherin classmates.

Harry couldn't believe it, refused to believe it. His favorite class? He'd hate it with Snape as a teacher - he could still remember the one and only time Snape had so much as substituted in Defense. There was no way it could be true.

"I already have to take extra Potions if I want to be an Auror," Harry whispered furiously, "I'll go crazy if I'm stuck with him for both! And how is he planning to teach two classes, anyway?"

Hermione was staring up at the professors, too distracted to really hear what Harry was saying. "Were you watching Snape?"

"I'll be seeing him more than enough, having two classes with him," Harry groaned. "Why would I want to look at him when I don't have to?"

"Because," Hermione explained patiently, still staring up at the table. "He looked over at that stranger the moment Dumbledore mentioned the former professor."

She turned back, frowning at the blank looks on her friends' faces. "Aren't you curious who has been invited back?"

Harry thought about it for a moment, but couldn't get his mind out of the mire of depression it had sunk into.

"The only one they could bring back would be Umbridge," he scoffed. "And last I heard, she was loopy because of the centaurs."

Ron nodded glumly, his shoulders slumping nearly as much as Harry's. Hermione sighed and frowned at the two of them.

"It could be Lupin," she said with exasperation. "Ron, didn't you say you hadn't seen him around the Order lately?"

That managed to brighten Harry's face somewhat, but he couldn't quite picture it. "I really doubt it. The parents would throw a fit if Dumbledore brought back a werewolf. And besides..."

He shot a dark look over at the professor's table. "Snape wouldn't be looking so disgustingly happy if it were Lupin. I think he hates him more than he does me. At least I never humiliated him in public..."

Hermione couldn't argue against the evidence for that, Snape did have a very disturbing smile at the moment, with that dark half-sneer of his. She tore her gaze away and glanced over at the stranger across the room. The two of them were staring at each other again.

"I wonder who he is," she frowned.

Harry wondered too, but he was too sunk in depression to think about it very hard. The food appeared on the plates in front of them, but even this didn't help him any. He was too sick to his stomach to eat.

"This year is going to suck," he sighed. "It's just not fair..."

.-.

If few people at the Gryffindor table were eating due to upset stomachs, few people at the Slytherin table were eating due to upset Malfoy. The news of their Head teaching Defense would have been a morale booster, and it was to a point. But there was still the stranger sitting beside him.

Draco barely touched his food, too busy glaring at the boy. And his discontent filtered to his lackeys, who watched him and the stranger, itching to pound the problem into dust. Their nervous jitters, violence shaking against the restraint, was enough to make most of the other Slytherin students look away and hope for the best.

Hiei noticed the problem, but he kept his smirk to a minimum. The boy could glare at him all he wanted. Let him get a good look and then go running back to his friends until the rumors flew. The Malfoy boy and those henchmen of his were just the sort to go writing home to their families. And that was exactly what they wanted.

The less Hiei explained, the more speculation there would be. And the more gossip, the more exaggerated the rumors. It would send certain people into a frenzy wondering what was really going on inside the school.

With this in mind, Hiei sat in silence as the others picked at their food, and the feast finally came to an end. The students started to file out, and he relented. Turning to the blonde boy, who was still glaring at him, Hiei smirked and leaned close so his snide comment wouldn't be overheard.

"Has Lucius visited you since the escape?"

Draco froze. Livid anger and stark shock hit him and rendered him motionless.

How could he know! That wasn't public knowledge yet - Fudge was keeping it underwraps so it didn't cause a panic. For some stranger to not only know, but to be in a position to mention it in Hogwarts - as if he were asking the time of day was...ludicrous. How?

He snapped out of it only after noting that the small red-eyed boy was no longer in front of him. Draco wheeled around, pushing past students as he tried to spot the short stranger in the crowd. When he did spot him, it was another shock - only this time he was confused out of his mind.

The stranger was walking a few steps behind Snape, who was leading the group toward their dorm in the dungeons. And the mysterious boy was looking as comfortable as if he'd been a member of the House for years. It was enough to send Draco's rational mind spinning.

Who was he? Since when did Dumbledore let strangers into the school without introducing them to the students? Draco was a prefect - Dumbledore should have at least told the prefects. Especially if the creep was going to be staying in his House!

Snape stopped at the entrance to the dormitory, that stranger stopping a little way behind so that the students trickled past them both. Draco glared at the dark-haired boy as he continued toward his room. He wanted answers, but he wasn't quite ready to ask Snape flat out who the person was. He had to stay on good terms with the head of his House, after all. Even if it killed him...

Dark eyes watched as the hall was emptied of students, silence coating the thick walls. Then Snape turned, looking back and down till he was sneering at Hiei.

"Don't you have someplace better to be?" asked Snape.

Hiei smirked, his eyes just as dark and mockingly distasteful as the professor's. Children aside, there were some humans he did understand.

"Yes," said Hiei, "and so do you."

Snape's eyebrow twitched, but his expression didn't change. He snapped past, his robes swishing sharply as he stalked down the hall in the opposite direction of the way the students had gone. His voice was cold and he didn't look back. "I don't need an escort."

Hiei just smirked as he followed. "We'll see."

.-.

He felt the demon's approach minutes before he came anywhere near the door. Kurama waited patiently, leaning against the wall and watching the dark hall. There was a flicker of youki, a quick greeting from one demon to another, then Hiei was standing in front of him, his black cloak settling from his fast movements through the school.

Kurama smiled at the clearly bored look on his friend's face, and tilted his head. "How do you like your new chore so far?"

Hiei sniffed, not bothering to so much as glower at the teasing tone. "The boy knows nothing. None of them do."

That neither surprised nor bothered Kurama. He shrugged lightly. "They don't need to know. They'll report to their parents just because they don't know, so it's better if they're left completely in the dark. It will make them that much quicker to tattle home."

He didn't receive any argument to that, but Kurama could see how put out Hiei felt, by the expression on his bored face.

"I can't believe I'm stuck down in that stuffy dungeon," Hiei muttered crossly. "Who in their right mind would choose to sleep down there? Even humans aren't supposed to be that stupid."

Though Kurama was sympathetic - and amused - he shook his head at the little demon. "Shouldn't you be getting back?"

Hiei sniffed carelessly. "I took care of it."

There was a familiar gleam in those bright red eyes, and Kurama let out a quiet laugh. His friend smirked in reaction.

"He's going to resent being locked in his room like a child," said Kurama, "just because the students have arrived."

Hiei turned his smirk on the door, not bothered by the warning. "He resents everything. What's one more thing."

Hiei reached into his cloak and pulled out a dark stoppered flask so Kurama could see it. The redhead nodded and turned to the door. He ran a pale hand over it, making the wood glow with a faint reddish light. Then he opened the door, giving entrance to the dim room.

"You have my invitation till I rescind," Kurama murmured, stepping through the doorway.

That faint glow passed over Hiei, disappearing once the demon crossed the threshold. Hiei ignored it, far too familiar with Kurama's style of kekkai to so much as raise an eyebrow. The fox had flair and liked to show it off. That was just the way he was.

"He wanted to come himself," said Hiei.

Kurama sealed the door behind them, smirking at Hiei's amused tone. When he turned, he found Lupin returning his smile, from where he sat on the small couch.

"He would," Lupin said quietly. "That's because if he doesn't deliver it himself, and something goes wrong, some could claim it was a flaw in his work."

"Smart," Hiei sniffed.

"Distrustful," Kurama countered.

Lupin smiled at the two of them, amusement dancing behind tired eyes. "Both are quite accurate."

The man shifted on the sofa, pulling the blanket tighter around his shoulders. He was pale and gaunt, with more white streaking the brown of his hair than his true age suggested. He looked starved, with dark, circled eyes as if he hadn't slept in years. But he was sitting up on his own, and the dim light from the lamp didn't make him wince anymore. That was an improvement.

Kurama gave him a nod before turning to get a large bowl of plants he'd prepared. It looked like nothing so much as crushed parsley, tiny bits of broken leaves sprinkled with bark shavings and a dust of silver-green powder. Despite that appearance, the scent proclaimed it as something else entirely. He kept it away from his face, but the strong odor of mint and pepper was enough to make his eyes water.

Hiei glowered when he accepted the bowl, trading the flask for it. He raised his youki a bit, just a tiny flare of heat to warm the bowl, and turned his head away as Kurama poured the yellow liquid onto the plants.

The heat of the bowl kept any mist or dust from forming over the mixture but Hiei wasn't taking any chances. He held his breath while Kurama set the circular filter down into it, and didn't exhale until the redhead took the bowl from him.

Lupin was watching them with wary but resigned eyes, and Kurama offered him a wan smile as he held out the bowl. The filter, latching onto the rim of the bowl the way it did, kept the herbs from coming through as the man took a small sip. But the filter definitely didn't stop the taste from coming through. He grimaced and sent a look up at the redhead.

Kurama smiled, knowingly. "It will clear your head better than the potion alone. Just don't ask me what it is. And don't mention it to Snape."

Hiei had hopped onto the soft window seat - which faced an airtight mesh of green in the place where a window should have been - and was currently leaning against the plants. He sniffed at Kurama's comment and shot Lupin a smirk.

"He said to drink it fast," said Hiei. "No sipping."

Lupin heaved a resigned sigh, his eyes blurring a bit from the fumes that rose off the bowl. "Of course."

The man took a deep breath before tilting the bowl back and downing the liquid. Kurama grimaced and ducked forward at the same time.

He caught the bowl just as Lupin tensed up, the combination of potion and undiluted demon stimulant enough to send the man's body into momentary shock. His hands clenched reflexively, a flush of color striking out on his cheeks. Nearly a minute passed before he gasped, but his eyes were much more vivid and lucid when they opened.

Kurama watched them, those eyes, for any signs of a negative reaction. But Lupin seemed sober enough.

His throat was on fire, a sharp aching burn. Lupin grimaced and looked over at Hiei. "Water?"

Hiei remembered the angry orders he'd been given when he insisted on delivering the potion, and he shook his head at Lupin. "No liquids for at least an hour."

That news was just what he'd suspected. Lupin sighed, his tongue rubbing uselessly on the roof of his mouth in an attempt to rid it of the coating he was sure it had now. He rubbed his neck the same way, as if that might stop the burning sensation.

"It's vile," Lupin said, with a wry smirk. "Intentionally so."

Hiei stared for a moment before giving a slow smirk. "Without a doubt."

"I feel like I'm awake for the first time in a month," Lupin sighed, "but I'm still tired."

"I've never tried mixing a depressant with a stimulant," Kurama admitted. "But the side effects of Keda–of what I gave you should let you wake up with more awareness for a couple months."

Lupin's eyes widened at that, and Kurama shrugged. "It's a one-time dosage since taking more than that would kill you in a heartbeat. You can't dilute it, either, so the effects tend to last quite a while. Don't worry. It's no different from a human drinking coffee every morning for an added boost - it helps your body forget how exhausted it is. Just don't go running any marathons and you should be fine."

"I see," Lupin said slowly.

Hiei jerked on the window seat, a flash of purple glowing beneath his white headband. He abruptly scowled and hopped to the floor.

"Idiot wizards," Hiei spat, as he stalked toward the door. "Don't know enough not to test a kekkai. Like it would be any weaker this time than it was the last. Ridiculous."

Lupin ducked his head, hiding his smirk behind a hand. Kurama didn't bother to hide his. He smiled openly as he crossed to let Hiei out of the room.

"He probably wants a status report," Kurama teased.

Hiei gave a distasteful look without responding. The doorway glowed as he crossed it, that sheen of faint red covering him for a moment before disappearing.

"I rescind my invitation to you," said Kurama, that teasing tone still in his voice.

Hiei sniffed at him, not the least bit amused. "Any idiot could deliver the stuff."

He took a step before he remembered the other thing he was supposed to deliver. A droll look passed over his face, and Hiei looked back into the room, catching Lupin's attention.

"You're expected to be there for the first class," Hiei muttered, "even if you have to be carried in. Something about you wanting to greet your pet."

With the message delivered, Hiei shrugged up at Kurama. "It's your decision."

Kurama nodded and Hiei turned on his heel, flickering a bit before disappearing in a flash of speed. Once the hall was empty, Kurama went back in and leaned against the inside of the door. He raised an eyebrow at Lupin's amused expression.

"Do you want to sit in on the class?" asked Kurama. "You won't be walking well, but you should be able to get there - without being carried."

Lupin smirked and shook his head. "He just wants to see Harry's expression, that's all. Having me sit back and watch him teach my class - it's the sort of thing he'd find terribly amusing. Especially with the way Harry would react to it."

The redhead was smirking at him, waiting for a decision. Lupin gave him a wry smile. "Far be it from me to deny that small bit of satisfaction."

Kurama nodded in understanding and watched as the man rose and made his way back to the curtained doorway to the bedroom. He wasn't wavering much, but he still gripped his blanket from a cold only he felt.

He doubted Lupin would get much sleep, not after the mixed dose he'd taken, but the rest would do him good. He had an idea the first day of classes would be...quite interesting.

He flicked off the lamp, more than capable of seeing in the dark, and curled up on the window seat. His plants reacted to his presence, just a hint of his reiki and youki mix - that faint reddish glow that spread over the window and door as if emanating from the room itself. But it faded out as he closed his eyes for a short nap.

Kurama wasn't about to sleep there. The window seat was far too small for him to stay curled up on it all night. But it was a comfortable place to relax for a short while.

Hiei's confrontations with Snape, especially concerning his kekkai's, never lasted long. There was simply no spell a human could use that would counter Hiei's jagan. Poison, yes, physical attacks, possibly, but not magic. Snape knew that, of course. The wizard was just too stubborn to stop trying. Kurama suspected he did it just to annoy Hiei.

Kurama yawned widely and smirked as he curled closer to the plant-covered window. It was Hiei's turn to keep watch. Hopefully the little demon would be irritable when he came back upstairs - that always put Hiei in a good mood to stalk corridors looking for a fight. Perfect for guard duty.

.-.  
TBC


	2. Double Potions, Snape's Shadow

**Author's Notes:** Kurama and Hiei are not students in this fic, the only 'classes' they'll show up in are classes Snape (or Lupin) teach. And no, the students have absolutely no idea what's going on. Ron isn't a member of the Order, so he doesn't have a clue that Snape's been revealed. I'm sure Hermione or Draco will figure it out within a few parts - they're both very observant. Once they know, the readers will know. Until then, the 'adults' will be dropping some pretty bold hints as the fic progresses. Kurama and Hiei aren't hiding the fact that they're demon bodyguards, they just aren't bothering to introduce themselves as such.

There will **NOT** be a Draco-Hermione pairing. I can't express that enough - no teenagers will be hitching up in this story. I didn't label pairings in this fic because right now, there aren't any. There probably will be overtones of K-H if nothing else, but that comes with the territory. Whatever romance develops in this story (and there will be romance - I've yet to write a single fic without some sort of romance), I'll be sure to warn far in advance before it happens. I'm hoping for an adventurous crossover fic - not another 'romance carried by a strange plot' fic. I'll save that for the Prequel. ;p

Category: YYH-Harry Potter crossover  
Warnings: none  
Author: Arigatomina  
Email: arigatoumina (a) hotmail . com  
Website: www . arigatomina . com

**Higher Learning**

_Part 2: Double Potions; Snape's Shadow_

The Slytherin students entered Potions first, mostly because their Head was the professor, but also to get pick of the best seats before the Gryffindor students trailed in behind them. Draco was naturally the first one to enter the room, and he came to an abrupt halt when he saw who was there. His comrades passed him by, just as curious but unwilling to interfere with his confrontation. This was the third time that stranger had invaded his space.

Hiei was seated at the desk closest to the door, his bored yet mocking eyes flicking lazily up to stare at the fuming teenager. Draco glowered in silence.

He still didn't know a thing about the dark-haired male. All he knew was that he refused to dress properly, and had a voice that was much too deep for his height or apparent age.

He'd been there at breakfast that morning, seated at the Slytherin table as if he belonged there, and ruining yet another meal for the entire group. Why he even bothered when he didn't so much as touch the food, Draco didn't know. He was starting to think the guy did it just to drive the rest of them to distraction.

He hadn't been in any of Draco's other classes, hadn't followed the rest of them when they left the hall after breakfast. So why was he here now?

The rest of the students filed in around him, many sending startled looks at Hiei as they went by. Harry and his friends were just as curious, but they weren't about to say anything, not when Draco was with him. They went past with quietly disgruntled frowns.

Draco didn't notice, still set in his scowl. He leaned over the desk, his voice a little sharper than he intended. "What are you? I know you're not a student."

Hiei just smirked up at the boy, more than willing to let him fume indefinitely.

"Mr. Malfoy, if you've chosen that desk," Snape interrupted coolly, "I suggest you sit at it."

The tone startled him more than anything. Draco glanced around, not sure what he'd missed. It didn't take long to realize the rest of the class was seated. He shot the stranger a challenging look and sat down beside him.

Hiei's smirk widened, but that was the only reaction he gave the boy.

On the other side of the room, Hermione was staring at Hiei with just as much confusion, but not nearly the frustration Draco was feeling. She'd also noticed his presence at breakfast that morning, but she didn't know he hadn't joined the Slytherin students for the rest of their classes. His outfit was what made her frown over at him and wonder why Snape hadn't said anything about it yet.

She didn't pay much attention to the whispered speculation Harry and Ron were sharing across the isle from her.

"And he definitely looks like a Slytherin," Ron was saying. "Or like Snape himself. Maybe they're related."

Hiei choked back a snort just as Snape snapped around with a sharp, "Five points each for talking."

The professor waved his wand at the board, giving them instructions for the potion they were to make. Hermione stared glumly at it, still wincing from the deduction of ten points, not two minutes into their first Potions class. She hadn't heard what it was the boys had said, but she was sure it was something that could have waited until they started working – when a few whispers would go unnoticed.

The instructions on the board were more detailed than usual, and Hermione jerked when she read the list of ingredients. Her hand twitched, an instinctual urge to shoot it up in the air so she could ask a question. She gritted her teeth and kept it down with a lot of effort. Snape was one professor who did not encourage questions.

Her mind was twisting around the strange word as she got numbly to her feet and joined the students who were filing back to get their ingredients. The word was something that sounded familiar in her head, but which didn't fit anything she'd ever heard of. And that just didn't make sense since she'd diligently read every book she could get her hands on – determined that at least one Gryffindor student would excel in Potions.

Sure enough, the ingredient was on the shelf with the rest, clearly labeled '_Loridium_.' Hermione frowned at it for a long moment before taking the required amount back to her desk. It was a pungent, milky yellow liquid that smelled like ripe earwax. And all she could wonder was what purpose it could have that it wasn't listed in any of the textbooks she'd read.

Unfortunately for her curious mind, Snape was teaching the class. Knowing him, he wouldn't explain what they were making until they were finished. He had a penchant for making them test their potions out, not realizing the danger until it was already too late to be extra careful.

Hermione was always extra careful, so usually it didn't bother her to have to wait. This time she had to curl her right hand into a fist to keep from asking.

Draco wasn't nearly as reserved when it came to withholding curiosity. He glowered at the slopping stuff and shot a glare at Hiei. The strange boy was looking around the class with visible amusement in his red eyes, that familiar smirk twisting his lips. Obviously he knew something the rest of them didn't.

"Are you going to take part in the class," Draco grouched at Hiei, "or just sit there?"

Hiei looked at him for a moment. Then he shifted his gaze to the person standing behind the boy.

"Do you have a problem following the instructions on the board?" asked Snape.

Another of those feelings of having missed something passed over Draco and he turned confused eyes up to his professor. Snape was frowning at him without even a hint of the partiality he usually showed toward Slytherin students. Draco glanced down at his ingredients and shook his head.

"No," Draco said quickly, "I was just wondering what this stuff, the _loridium_ was. That's all."

When he looked back up, he saw a slight shift pass over Snape's face. The professor gave him a vague smirk, one of those knowing looks he'd come to expect from the Head of his house. If they hadn't been in class, Draco might have sagged in relief. It was bad enough having some stranger hanging around, without having the only teacher who actually liked him suddenly turn against him.

"It's rare enough," Snape confided wryly, "that students don't have access to it till their sixth year. Try not to spill any on your hands, if you don't want them to melt off."

Hiei's smirk widened into a darkly amused grin, almost evil really. Draco shivered from it and turned back to his potion with much more care for that easily spilt liquid.

All around the room, students were suddenly much more careful, and inadvertently much clumsier.

Hermione blanched, lunging to the side to keep Neville from tipping his beaker over onto his lap. His hands were shaking in evident terror at Snape's warning.

With that catastrophe averted, she let her mind dive off into understanding. Now she knew why the name was so familiar to her. It had to be a concentrated byproduct of Lorazellia. That species of plant, though extinct now, was once used to get rid of organic material like dead plants…or to melt the bodies of enemies. From what little she'd read about it, wizards had wiped the species out over a hundred years ago to keep it from being misused.

The only thing she didn't get was how they could still have some of it, enough of it to give to mere students. It wouldn't just be rare, it would be nearly impossible to get. And the types of potions a person could make from such a thing…

She couldn't imagine what they were making now. Suddenly her year of extra potions was looking to be very informative, and inherently dangerous. Hermione didn't know whether to be excited or outraged at the risk to nervous students like Neville.

Her own potion was ready to be mixed into the warmed kettle, so she added the Loridium carefully. She made sure Neville was watching so he'd see how to do it without spilling any of the liquid. Once she was done, she glanced over to check on Harry and Ron's progress. She abruptly paled as she spotted Snape making a beeline for the boys' desk.

She'd been so worried about Neville she hadn't noticed that Harry and Ron had already managed to spill some of the liquid. It was only a few drops, but that was enough to make a light sheen of yellow mist rise an inch above the desktop.

Hermione flinched away, not wanting to see how Snape railed at them, or to think about the extra studying they'd have to do to make up for this.

The sharp, "Next time you'll lose a hand instead of a grade," made Hiei turn to look at the back of the room.

He smirked at the ash white boys. The idea of human children handling something so inherently dangerous was foreign to him, but fear would help keep them on guard. His amusement faded when he spotted Snape's expression. He turned away in disgust.

Lupin had mentioned the man's obsession, how he was set on proving the Potter boy an incompetent wizard at best. But Hiei hadn't expected him to get such a vindicated look from a simple act of carelessness. Of course the boy spilled it. He'd been too busy whispering with his friend to pay attention to what he was doing. That was nothing to look vindicated about.

Hiei glowered at the blackboard, though he was still thinking about the mussy-haired boy with the destiny-proscribed mission in life. Anyone who looked at the boy could tell he didn't know patience any more than his red-haired friend knew how to whisper without being heard.

Adolescent humans. He'd never understand how Kurama could have spent so many years going to school with the creatures.

.-.

The griping began the moment they made it out of the Potion's room, Harry and Ron commiserating with a silent Hermione.

"We didn't even have a chance to make the bloody potion," Ron groaned. "It's not like we failed, we couldn't even try. He cleared our desk when we'd barely started, all because of two little drops. And if it's supposed to be so awfully dangerous, why didn't it melt the table?"

Hermione mumbled something along the lines of 'organic,' and Ron frowned at her. She didn't seem to be listening at all.

"Don't you think it was a crock?" asked Ron, prodding her shoulder.

She blinked, seeing his and Harry's frustrated faces, and spoke her thoughts out loud in a fervent rush.

"How could such a dangerous ingredient be used in a healing potion? Yes, Lorazellia extract was inherently designed to eliminate organic substances, but the strength of it is incompatible with antitoxin purposes. Even if you specified it to only go after certain types of organics, I just don't see how they could possibly dilute it enough for it to be safe – even with _dormicin_ vein to nullify it. Just a hair too much and it could kill a person! We're not ready to be making such dangerous potions, certainly not on our very first day. Why, Neville might have been killed, not even a warning until we'd already risked spilling it. And if we start here, what is he going to have us making next…?"

Ron and Harry paled a bit, exchanging one of their '_Hermy's off on a rant again, let's sneak away before she drags us into it_' looks.

"What about that weird guy," Ron said quickly, hoping to distract her. "He sure didn't seem to care much for Malfoy, for someone who sits at the Slytherin table during meals. And what's with that outfit? He looks like a first year, but he didn't lift a finger in there and Snape just ignored him like he was invisible or something. And did you see the way he kept smirking throughout class? He's like a – a mini-Snape! Evil little bugger…"

Hermione just blinked at him, that small thoughtful frown giving proof that she was still too deep in thought to so much as smile at his diatribe. Ron gave up with a loud sigh.

"Well," said Ron, "we have Care of Magical Creatures next – before we have to see Snape again for Defense."

Harry drug his feet, grumbling about having Snape look down his long nose at them twice in one day. "It's almost enough to make me want to skip Defense."

That woke Hermione like a slap to the face. She wheeled around and gave Harry a sharp lecturing frown. "You'll never be an Auror if you skip the most important class! You'll survive seeing him twice in one day."

Harry was leaning away from her with wide eyes. Hermione sighed, changing her tone into a more placating one.

"Besides," she reminded him, "Dumbledore said he was only filling in till the real professor could take over. It's not like he'll be teaching us all year."

"I guess," Harry sighed, resigning himself to the torture yet to come.

.-.

Hiei was still seated when the last student left the classroom, Malfoy having been the first to stalk out. He waited a minute to make sure none would return with questions – the way Kurama had warned him students sometimes did – and shut the door behind them.

Snape was at the ingredient cabinet at the back of the room. Hiei sidled over to lean against the wall nearby, watching the man's face.

"Interesting choice," said Hiei, "starting them out with something deadly. Wake them up so they'll be on guard from here on out."

A vague, fleeting smirk passed over Snape's face, but he played it off with a shrug. "I was making it anyway. Might as well use the diluted version in class."

It hadn't been a compliment so much as an observation. Hiei yawned and nodded at the hidden cabinet where Snape was locking the Loridium away with other restricted items.

"You can always reproduce the lesson with the real version," Hiei commented. "Kurama could get you a Lorazel for that greenhouse of yours."

Snape sneered and shook his head as he locked the cabinet with a quick spell. "It's too dangerous," he spat, "having so much of it, even here. Wizards can't be trusted with the primary plant. There aren't more than three wizards left alive who know how to handle them, and only one…fit enough, to extract the acid."

He straightened and sent a glare down at Hiei for the suggestion. "I'm not about to be reduced to botanist. If we had a Lorazel here, I'd be the only one capable of harvesting it. That isn't my job."

Hiei snorted, not quite laughing at the wizard's pompous tone. "No, your job is to clean up your mess."

Snape bristled, glaring not at Hiei – who was now at his back – but at the blackboard. He waved it clean before stalking from the room, his teeth gnashed closed on any rejoinder he might have given to the demon's taunt.

"And yet he has no restraint with the children," Hiei smirked. He shook his head before zipping after him, back to his role of shadow.

.-.  
TBC

notes-  
Next up, Kurama meets the Gryffindor students.


	3. Observing Defense, Nobody's Pet

Category: YYH-Harry Potter crossover  
Warnings: none  
Author: Arigatomina  
Email: arigatoumina (a) hotmail . com  
Website: www . geocities . com / arigatomina

**Higher Learning**

_Part 3: Observing Defense; Nobody's Pet_

She noticed him the moment she entered the room, but unlike her fellow students, Hermione had a quick epiphany at the sight of Hiei seated at the desk near the door – just like he'd been in Potions. With both classes he'd been there before any of the students. And there were two things Potions and Defense had in common today, besides the stranger's presence. One was the Gryffindor students. The other was-

"Lupin!"

Hermione jumped a little, surprised out of her epiphany by the happy cry. Harry had spotted someone across the room that she hadn't noticed. Sure enough, Lupin was seated near the window, off to the side of the professor's desk but still at the head of the classroom. She pushed away her thoughts of the stranger as she joined Harry in greeting their old friend.

"I didn't think you'd be here," Harry was saying, his words coming in a quick rush. "You are teaching again, right Lupin? Er, Professor Lupin, I mean…that is…"

Harry trailed off, not sure how to address the man now that he was his superior again, instead of his friend. Lupin was smiling at him, seated in a comfortable armchair that reminded Harry of the one Dumbledore had used during his trial a few years back. The only difference was the mottled brown coloring, and the large silver fox reclining on the arm closest to the window.

"You are our new professor," said Harry, "aren't you?"

"Yes," said Lupin, "I'm going to be teaching you. But…I'm not your professor just yet."

He caught Harry's gaze and directed it to the desk at the front of the class, a hint of a sympathetic smile flashing past his face when the boy paled.

Sure enough, Snape was sitting behind the desk, watching Harry's reaction with a dark 'gotcha' smile. Harry bristled and almost blushed as he stumbled for something to say, now that he knew Snape could hear every word.

"Erm, well," mumbled Harry, "since you're already here, couldn't you…"

Lupin shook his head with that same, sympathetic smile, absentmindedly petting the fox when it tilted an ear at him. The rest of the students were arriving now, but Harry was reluctant to sit down. He frowned at the silver canine with a wash of grief as he remembered how Lupin had once pet Padfoot the very same way.

"Is that your new pet…?" asked Harry.

Lupin jumped, jerking his hand away as if burned. Heat swamped his face, and he ducked his head with an almost sheepish grin. The large silver fox was bristling with indignation, and Hiei's low chuckle from across the room didn't help matters any.

"No," Lupin said quickly, "he's not a pet. Certainly not my pet."

Now that their attention was directed to the large fox, Hermione, who'd been standing back with Ron so as not to intrude on Harry's reunion, noticed the extra tails. They'd been curled together before, but now they were in the air, the silky fur standing on end so that all five of them were clearly visible.

"What kind of fox is that?" asked Hermione.

Lupin raised his eyebrows, and Hermione blinked when the fox turned to look at her. She had a brief impression that it was grinning at her. Then a whisper met with her mind, a single word that left her stunned to the point of silence.

'_Youko.'_

Pale golden eyes glittered with amusement. Kurama let her stare for a moment before standing on the arm of the chair and hopping to the floor. He was not much more than two feet tall in his fox form – rather large considering he'd used it mostly for infiltration – but too small to see the students over their desks without craning his neck. He was sure they could see him, though, and that was what mattered.

Hiei sent a sideways look at Snape as the fox crossed the room, smirking at how irritated the human looked. Snape had been set against this sort of display, but Lupin and Kurama had gotten the last say in the matter. Now the man was pointedly ignoring all three of them, his twitching eyebrow the only sign that he knew what was going on in front of his desk.

Kurama padded slowly and gracefully – making sure the students were watching him. He hopped onto Hiei's desk and turned to look back at the class, his legs curling into a half seated position. The humans were watching, but they didn't seem to be anything more than curious. Staring at the students closest to him, Kurama shifted back to his redhaired form.

The reaction was priceless. Even Hiei smirked, mostly because Neville had fallen out of his chair in surprise.

Kurama gave a sly smile, pausing for a moment of silence up where everyone in the room could see him clearly. Then he looked away and the whispers began. Someone near him used the word animagus, and launched into an argument with another student in heated, if muffled tones. He listened with one ear as he turned his smug smile on Hiei.

Hiei rolled his eyes and flitted over to the window, leaving the chair for the self-satisfied fox. A few of the students noticed his movement, and to them it looked as if he'd disappeared and reappeared, reclining on the open windowsill. The rest of the Gryffindor students only saw Kurama slide off the desk and into the empty seat as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Harry tore his gaze away from the strange redhaired wizard, for surely he had to be a wizard if he were an animagus, and blinked wide eyes at Lupin. His friend, and re-appointed professor, smiled back at him. He didn't look the least bit concerned with what had just happened.

"You should take a seat now," Lupin said gently.

Harry's mouth opened and closed a few times as Hermione caught his arm, Ron helping her direct the boy back to an empty desk. Her mind was racing at the idea of the stranger being an animagus.

He'd have to be an unregistered one. She'd gone over the entire list not too long ago. There hadn't been any wizards as young as the redhaired teen. And there were absolutely no foxes, certainly not small silver ones with five tails. But she didn't see how he could be an unregistered animagus when he had just transformed in public – at Hogwarts, and in front of Snape of all people. The professor would jump on the chance to catch a wizard breaking the rules like that.

Hermione looked up to see how Snape was reacting to the display. His twitching eyebrow proved he was not happy. But the professor wasn't so much as looking at the redhead. He was scowling over at Lupin, who was currently staring at the ceiling with an innocent expression plastered over his face.

She frowned in confusion and dropped her gaze, almost unaware of the whispered speculation Harry and Ron were sharing beside her. As unlikely as it was for an unregistered animagus to give a public display like that, she also had that word she'd heard earlier. She could swear the fox – animagus - had _thought_ that word to her.

That decided it. As soon as her classes were finished for the day, Hermione was heading right for the library. Ron would have a fit. Their first day of classes and she already had a date with the library.

The whispering went on for as long as Snape's patience held out. About four minutes. He just couldn't stand to have students chatting like that, even if it were to his benefit.

He didn't have to silence them. The moment Snape stood, the students – all Gryffindor students – shut up and glowered. From his position between the professor and the class, Kurama could almost taste the resentment on both sides.

"Defense," Snape said, in a tone that was so mocking and demeaning that Harry bristled and went bright red, "is not just learning terms and tricks to pass a class. It's picking up skills and being able to use them to save your life. Some of the people here are taking the class with hopes of becoming Aurors."

Hermione winced when the professor sneered directly at Harry. She glanced at Lupin to see his reaction. He was looking off to the side and she had the distinct impression he was biting his tongue not to say anything.

"There is only one person in this class," Snape continued, "I can imagine actually passing the tests necessary to become an Auror. And so far she's still undecided about her future."

This was directed at Hermione with a mocking smirk. She froze and blushed bright red. Harry was fuming next to her and she wanted nothing more than to sink into her seat and dribble onto the floor where no one could see her.

She didn't even want to be an Auror. Harry knew that. She just liked the classes and wanted to learn. Why did Snape have to draw attention to her and make Harry mad at her like that?

Kurama turned in his seat and flashed the embarrassed girl a warm smile. She blushed darker in reaction.

Immediately it wasn't just Harry sending her jealous looks, but Ron and half of the Gryffindor females as well. Hermione fidgeted in her seat, steam practically rising out of her ears from how hot her face felt. It had to have been the longest thirty seconds of her life.

Snape continued, his attention going from the Potter crew to the Gryffindor class as a whole.

"What you'll be doing this year is going through a series of tests. As you should have noticed, there are no new texts for this year's course. You'll be finishing off the magical creatures listed in the third year text, the practical application of defensive spell-casting you began in your fourth year, and, of course, the theory of when, according to wizarding laws, it is legal to use high level defensive techniques, as you began to learn in your fifth year. What this is, is a comprehensive course that will fill in the gaps in your lacking grasp of Defense, both in theory and application.

"So far, the only useful thing you've learned in the last five years is what the forbidden spells look like. And," he sneered, "since recognizing them won't help you when they're cast on you, that's not very useful either."

Snape paused for a moment, his expression shifting to a cold, almost emotionless gaze. "There will be no unsupervised practicing of the spells you learn this year."

He turned his attention on each former member of _Dumbledore's Army_, making sure they were paying close attention. "All practice of restricted spells will be supervised. Any student found using one of these spells illicitly will be expelled."

That cold look fell on Harry, and he almost squirmed in his seat. Somehow it was more frightening because Snape wasn't smirking or glaring at him. He couldn't remember Snape ever looking at him without one of the two expressions.

"Dumbledore has stated there will be **no** exceptions."

Hermione shot a glance at Lupin after that eerie warning, but he was looking down at his folded hands with an almost melancholy expression. She turned back to her books with still more unanswered questions.

Snape was assigning them research on something called a _wyvern_. There were a lot of surprised looks going around the room because he didn't assign a report on the creature, just the research. They were to be tested at the end of their next class.

Hermione nodded to herself as she made a note of the assignment. The test would probably be a real test, so that was all the motivation they needed to do the research. Even if they didn't have to actually turn in proof that they researched it, their test scores would show who had done the assignment. And with her as a friend, Harry and Ron would be doing the homework whether they liked it or not.

She remembered _wyvern_ as a sidenote in their old text, at the back of the book near the index. She'd read the entire book when Snape had assigned them the report on werewolves that year. There was an entire chapter toward the end on creatures that didn't fit into the normal categories, many of which were considered chimeras – crosses between different subspecies. The chapter hadn't said what the different creatures were, just the names and reference books.

If Hermione hadn't been sufficiently distracted since then, she'd have looked all of the rare creatures up for the fun of it. But now she had the perfect excuse to drag her friends to the library with her. They'd have to get those reference books to complete the homework, anyway, so she could look up _youko_ while she was there. Convenient.

After the class was dismissed, Harry went back to speak with Lupin again. Hermione followed warily. Snape was still at his desk, and he was watching them with that same cold mask he'd worn earlier. She couldn't help thinking that he worried her more when he wasn't sneering. And he'd probably sit there and listen to every word they said. He wasn't the type to go away and give them a moment of privacy, but she wished he'd at least pretend he wasn't listening to them.

Harry was just as uncomfortable at having his least favorite professor spying on him, but he put his back to Snape and tried to ignore it. "Are you in the office you used last time?" he asked Lupin. "I wanted to talk to you – after the rest of my classes, that is."

Hiei looked up sharply at that, and Harry blinked, shifting with more discomfort. He'd forgotten the stranger was so close since he'd been half hidden by Lupin's chair.

Lupin gave Harry a regretful smile, shaking his head. "Maybe in a few days, once I'm teaching full time."

"Don't you three have classes to be getting to?" asked Snape.

Harry bristled but refused to look back at him. He and Ron were out of the room in a matter of seconds, leaving Hermione behind as she gave a rushed goodbye to Lupin.

"Great to have you back," Hermione said quickly.

On the way out the door, she noticed the redhead smiling at her again. She ground to a halt, her eyebrows drawing into a frown. He wasn't mocking her, or flirting with her. His smile was simply that, a friendly smile. She turned back to him and shifted for a second before asking, politely, what his name was.

Kurama blinked in surprise. A teasing glitter sprang to his eyes and his smile widened. "Kurama. And you are?"

"Hermione Granger."

"Nice to meet you, Hermione."

The teen's voice was soft, and higher than she expected. But it was the accent that caught her attention. Hermione's eyes shown with suspicion and a bit of exhilaration – maybe she hadn't known what _youko_ was because it hadn't been an english word.

"Are you Japanese?" she asked.

"Something like that," said Kurama.

He had an idea what was going through the girl's mind, and he couldn't help but be smug about it. A glance toward the doorway and he let out a little laugh. "Your friends look worried. You should probably go to your next class."

Hermione turned to find Ron and Harry frowning from the hallway. With a quick wave for Lupin, and a hesitant look at Kurama, she left the room.

Kurama watched until they were gone. Then he shot a conspiratorial smirk over at Lupin. "That went well."

Hiei snorted from the window, folding his arms and looking outside irritably. "Of course it went well," he scoffed. "She's female."

Lupin smirked at that, but the expression disappeared when he looked at Snape. "I suppose Malfoy would ask you before asking Hiei so much as his name."

"Hufflepuff is next," said Snape, distaste coating his tone. "They're guileless, more likely to be forward with their…curiosity."

He glowered over at Lupin for a second before shifting his glare to Kurama. "There won't be any need for another vagrant display."

Kurama grinned, not the least bit embarrassed. "That's too bad. I was wondering how the students would react to having a real youko in their midst. Maybe I should save that for the Slytherin students."

He leaned forward on the desk and looked over at Hiei. "I take it none of them commented on your accent?"

Smirking at Lupin's curious gaze, Hiei tilted his head against the window and said in English, "what accent."

Lupin gave an appreciative look, while Kurama just shook his head at the conceit. Hiei had said he knew dozens of human languages, so Kurama wasn't really surprised.

"You have a way with languages," said Lupin.

Hiei's smug look faded a bit and he shrugged, now dismissive about the subject. "It's easy when you remember every word you've ever heard since the day you were born."

With a wince for the bright light filtering in around the dark clothed demon, Lupin turned away. "I see..."

A sharp look from Kurama, and Hiei hopped off the window. He moved so he could see Lupin's eyes, not minding how the man warily leaned away from him. It only took a glance to see the spell had worn off.

Typical. A single dose of the right plant would have shielded his eyes for days, but no, wizards had to use their short-term magic tricks.

He rolled his eyes at Snape and returned to his position on the window. "Reapply it before the next class starts."

Lupin winced at the dirty look Snape shot both him and Hiei. But he winced a lot more when the professor approached him with his wand raised. He blinked at it warily, a pained smile pulling at his face.

"You know," Lupin said slowly, "it goes against my instincts to sit still when you point that at me."

Snape sneered, years of enmity flashing behind his eyes. "I'm sure it does."

.-.-  
TBC

Note the language barrier – Lupin and Snape are wizards, professors, if they don't know Japanese, they can cast a spell to learn it so they understand Kurama and Hiei. Kurama and Hiei understand english, but they only speak it with the students – since the kids wouldn't have easy access to a translation spell. It would be too much trouble for them to bother using English all the time when the professors can understand Japanese with a flick of a wand (assuming they don't know it already).

Next up, Kurama plays watchdog…er, watchfox. o.O


	4. Letters Home, Forbidden Forest

Category: Harry Potter-YYH crossover  
Warnings: none  
Author: Arigatomina  
Email: arigatoumina (a) hotmail . com  
Website: www . geocities . com / arigatomina

**Higher Learning**

_Part 4: Letters Home; Forbidden Forest_

That evening found Snape seated at a small impromptu dinner table, which he'd reluctantly set up. He was only there because it was better than being locked in his chambers immediately following the daily meal downstairs. He'd already eaten with the rest of the professors, so he sat back from the table, sipping the foul – to him – tea Kurama was so fond of.

Hiei refused to touch the food in the main hall, claiming the presence of so many humans made his stomach curl, and that the choices were disgusting. The continual pumpkin juice was to blame more than anything.

Snape sneered as he watched Hiei pick at the small platter of steamed vegetables and rice. For someone who just had to eat in private, the demon didn't seem very interested in the food.

To his credit, Kurama was doing his best not to hover over the table. He and Lupin had eaten earlier, privately, since he didn't want the wizard in the open until he was using magic again – about the same time he'd be taking over his class. The man was subsiding on soup mostly, despite Kurama's best efforts to con him into something more substantial. He suspected the werewolf ate more at certain times of the year, so he hadn't pushed too hard. Hiei, though, was a continual headache.

"At least eat the chicken," Kurama sighed, his shoulders slumping as Hiei pushed the food away from him. "I hate watching you not eat. You're not exactly strapping you know. You never did get your weight back up after the tournament."

Hiei's eyebrow twitched in annoyance, the only sign he gave of having heard the frustrated complaint. As far as he was concerned, there was no reason to eat. He hadn't seen a spot of action since they'd come to the school, so he didn't need to replenish his energy. Besides that, he'd learned a few years ago that summoning black fire on a full stomach was unpleasant at best. It made him feel hot and bloated. But he'd die before explaining that to Kurama.

Wrinkling his nose, Hiei broke into a wide yawn that made Snape grimace in distaste.

"I see you never learned to cover your mouth when you do that," Snape said snidely.

"And you never learned when not to speak," Hiei shot back.

The two glowered at each other, but Snape stayed quiet and Hiei's mouth stayed closed, so it seemed they had reached a compromise. Kurama and Lupin exchanged an amused look.

"Did the classes wear you out that much?" Kurama asked Hiei.

Hiei sniffed, glaring at Snape for a moment longer before flicking his gaze to Kurama. "Even Koenma doesn't mess with time that much."

It was an insult on Snape, but also wizards in general. Lupin shook his head. "The timeturner is rarely used. Dumbledore acquired permission for its use this time, only because it is the only way for a single professor to cover two courses without rescheduling. It's only for a few days."

"Besides that," said Kurama, "it's my turn to keep watch. You can catch up on sleep tonight."

"I thought demons didn't need sleep," Snape sneered.

Hiei's eyes snapped back to the professor, his lips twitching to reveal one small white fang. "And he's still speaking."

Without further ado, Hiei gave another wide-mouthed yawn. Snape bristled in reaction and bolted from his chair, hissing under his breath about disgusting ill-mannered demons and the idiots who put up with them. A soft laugh was muffled into a fake cough, but it was unknown whether Kurama or Lupin had made the sound since they were hiding their smiles.

"Where does he think he's going?" asked Hiei, his eyes bright with devilish amusement.

Kurama winced and wiped the grin off his face. He crossed the room to let Snape through his kekkai – before the wizard tried to blast a way through. Unlike Hiei's kekkai, magic could wreck havoc on his plants. The entire school would be swarmed with energy-hungry vines in a matter of minutes. Luckily Snape was aware of that and didn't try to force his way out. He did send Kurama a very hateful glare on his way out of the room, though.

Not closing the door, since Hiei would have to follow Snape, Kurama remained in the doorway. His arms were folded, annoyance written clearly over his face.

"Why is it I always get blamed for how immature my friends are?" he asked.

Lupin laughed, knowing exactly what he meant. "You're expected to keep a leash on him – that's what the responsible friends are there for."

Kurama raised an eyebrow at Hiei, who was wearing a satisfied smirk. "This isn't a romp, you know. We're on assignment."

"So says the fox who'll be romping the halls an hour from now," Hiei scoffed as he left the room.

.-.-

Despite Hiei's prediction, it was a while before Kurama could take a 'romp' around the school. He didn't get far from Lupin's room before a shadowy figure beckoned him into an empty classroom. The scene was cliché enough that Kurama couldn't help but smirk at the man's dark cloak.

Instead of making him blend with the shadows, it made the man even more conspicuous.

"I didn't think you would be here so soon," said Kurama. "Have you heard something new already?"

Arthur Weasley tossed back the hood to his cloak and pulled a folded letter from his pocket.

"Just a few hours ago," he nodded. "Harry and Ron must have sent it during their midday break. They're asking about Remus, and two strangers. I don't know what to tell them in my reply."

"Tell them the truth," Kurama smiled. "You haven't seen Lupin since he failed to return to the Order house over a month ago. Professor Dumbledore tells you he's going to be the new Defense teacher, and that Snape will be helping with his classes until he's ready to take over the position full-time. Why make up some ruse when the truth is easiest?"

"Yes," Arthur said slowly, clearly uncertain about how simple Kurama made it sound. "But what about the strangers? Do you want them to know, or don't you? If I told them, that would make word get out quicker-"

"A little too quick," said Kurama. "Just tell them the strangers are friends of Dumbledore's, so if they want to know about them, they should ask themselves. Tell them it isn't your place to be gossiping about them."

The redhead was giving him a wry smile that made Arthur a little uneasy. He couldn't tell if Kurama was mocking him for having come with such simple questions, or if the demon could see right through his excuse.

"Any news on the escaped Death Eaters?" Kurama prodded.

"No, no," Arthur said quickly. "There's been no sign of them since they moved from the mansion. We're confident Lucius will be in contact with Draco at some point to find out what's going on at Hogwarts. But we haven't any evidence that he's tried so far. Fudge is still hoping we'll find them and get them back in Azkaban before the public knows they've broken out. And you probably know that Harry hasn't had any reactions from his scar. You-Know-Who must be biding his time. If he were frustrated or angry, Harry would feel it."

"Well, you did say he already knew there was a spy," Kurama shrugged. "That he just didn't have proof that it was Snape. I imagine he'd be relieved to have the spy revealed. And if he's as fearsome as wizards claim, he wouldn't be too concerned with disposing of the witnesses. For him, it would be a simple matter of assassination. At least until he realizes we're here."

Mr. Weasley gave a reluctant nod, and Kurama smiled at him. "Don't worry, he'll be getting frustrated soon enough. We'll keep an eye on Harry to watch for any signs."

"He'll write about them," said Arthur. "And he's bound to tell Dumbledore posthaste if he has disturbing dreams. It isn't an issue of spying on him, he's a good boy."

"So I've heard. Lupin speaks highly of him."

"Yes…yes, I imagine he would."

There was a 'but' hidden in that soft statement. Kurama waited a moment before giving the man a gently knowing look. "There's another reason you came. You wouldn't come all the way here over a letter, not when it would be easier to communicate by other methods."

Arthur winced, scrubbing a hand over his temple and shuffling in more than a little discomfort. He'd met Kurama weeks ago, but he still couldn't reconcile the redhead with the demon he knew him to be.

"Right," Arthur sighed. "I was wondering – Albus has kept all of us in the dark – about their conditions. Molly has been worrying herself ragged about this, and you know Remus hasn't been the same since, well, what happened last year and all. She was quite adamant that I get some news on him, anything at all. You could even make something up if it's best we not know, the dear wouldn't know the difference really."

The man was shifting in discomfort and embarrassment, his words mumbling together. Kurama nearly winced. He hadn't made the best impression when he and Hiei had been to their 'Order,' but he'd had no idea it was this bad. Not that it was his fault.

Hiei had been the one to burn the shrieking picture, and he'd only done it because the psychotic picture-woman had screamed at him, and the wizards had said they wanted her gone. How was he to know the flame would take out the entire hall of portraits in a cacophony of howls and wails? He'd actually been doing something nice for a change. But instead of being grateful that the picture-woman couldn't insult them anymore, they'd been terrified of him. Hiei really had the worst luck with humans.

Kurama heaved a sigh at the memory and shook his head at the wary man in front of him.

"You know what happened," said Kurama, "so you should have an idea what his status is. You're a wizard, after all. Wizards don't like to get their hands dirty, so most of your spells don't leave a mark. The only thing affecting Lupin now is the poison, and that should be cleared out within the week."

There it was.

Arthur eased back a bit, his eyes taking in that cold inhuman sheen to those bright green eyes. For all that the redhead appeared nice, he was not human. It came out when he discussed wizardry, particularly spell casting. The other one, Hiei, had been open about his dismissal of magic-using humans. Kurama accepted them more, but at times it was clear he liked them no more than any demon did. And as much as that dark, age old resentment worried him, Arthur couldn't blame the two for feeling the way they did.

Demons and wizards had been avoiding each other for centuries. Even the barrier the Reikai had set up wasn't enough to stop the resentment on each side. It was a tenuous truce at best. Wizards stayed out of the Makai, and demons stayed out of wizarding communities when they stole into the human realm. Even fugitives, demon and wizard alike, steered clear of going into the other's territory.

Only someone of Dumbledore's status could have convinced two demons to work with them, and he wouldn't have managed that if it weren't for his…friends in high places. Arthur didn't even want to know who had arranged for Kurama and Hiei to stay in a wizarding school. The less he knew about the three worlds, the happier he'd be. That knowledge was something only Merlin class wizards were privy to.

"I could clear up the side effects quicker myself," Kurama was saying, his expression distasteful. "But they might interfere with the antidote. Regardless of that, the only reason he's alive is because he's a werewolf. Even that small amount of demon blood is enough to counter _wizarding_ magic."

The suppressed derision in Kurama's voice made Arthur look away, biting his own tongue so he wouldn't say anything. Wizards didn't consider werewolves demons – they were magical creatures. That was just one more area of discord – which creatures were un-human enough to be considered magical, and which were evil enough to be called demons. Needless to say magical creatures were allowed into the human world, demons were not.

"But the antidote is working?" asked Arthur, doing his best to keep the talk civil. "I understand there was some doubt that it would be effective."

Kurama frowned at himself, not answering immediately. He knew what he was doing, but as much as he disliked his instinctive reaction, he couldn't help it. He was starting to like Lupin, and as far as he was concerned the man would have led a better life among demon and human friends than among discriminating wizards.

"I wouldn't know," Kurama said shortly, his eyes flashing gold. "I've never poisoned someone I didn't want dead."

.-.-

They skirted him, ducking in the shadows as he raced past or scattering to the trees when he followed the ground. He smelled them, sensed the low level youki of the smaller creatures and the suppressed energy of the more powerful ones, and he heard the sounds of them rushing to hide as he passed. The creatures in the forest had felt his coming, but they'd known he was there from the day he and Hiei had arrived at the school. The two of them had taken a midnight tour – leaving Dumbledore to watch the two professors while they acquainted themselves with the area. Since that trip, the creatures in the Forbidden Forest knew to hide, and not to interfere.

A few were more curious, following in the trees and chittering to each other about the silver fox below. Kurama sniffed at a group of them, recognizing the slight bodies and webbed fingers despite the dark branches they were hiding in. His tails waved as if in a light wind. They wouldn't get in his way, and he would make their tree beautiful. An even trade that let him burn a bit of his excess energy.

He'd discovered early that he didn't need to be inside the school when it was his turn to stand guard. His plants, grown during that first week, served as traps and triggers, early warning signs and a few more interesting pets to snatch up any designated Death Eater that was stupid enough to enter the school. Kurama had Snape to thank for that little trick.

Who would have thought Voldemort would be stupid enough to clearly mark his followers with a cursed scar? Once he'd convinced his plants that they didn't want to eat Snape, they were happy to keep an eye out for anyone else with such a mark. Very useful.

That left him with more freedom to roam the forest at night – not just for fun, but to spy out any human tracks or residues. He and Hiei had been warned to watch out for portkeys, simple objects that reeked of old magic and humans. Personally, Kurama expected a creature to attack, rather than a human.

He'd heard about Voldemort's track record and his DeathEaters seemed more cowardly than C class demons. They attacked in groups or sent in lackeys to do the work for them.

The only exception would be Malfoy, and Kurama could only hope he wouldn't try a direct attack. With Hiei watching Snape, that sort of thing would get them into a load of trouble. Hiei wasn't exactly subtle when he fought, and Death Eater or not, they weren't allowed to kill humans.

A whispering sigh eased by one of Kurama's pointed ears, and he tilted it, golden eyes flicking over to spot the dark body a few yards from him. The centaur was backing away slowly, to keep his hooves from sounding. They were not like the other creatures in the forest. Kurama knew. He could almost feel their energy, the need to attack and drive him out. They were demons like himself, and they hated to stand by while another invaded their territory, especially one who reeked of humans.

Kurama sniffed and darted off, leaving the centaur to his slow retreat. He couldn't help it if he still smelled like the children he'd been around earlier. And if the centaurs were so set on living without humans, they should have moved to Makai years ago. They were too soft to give up their forest, where they were sheltered and protected magical creatures. It was their choice, so they could live with it.

Deeper in the forest the sounds died. The creatures here would not retreat from him any more than they would attack him outright. He'd seen to that when they first arrived. They were hunger-driven creatures who didn't care if the food was human, demon, or animal. Kurama had gifted them with a few rare plants, the sort that were best used to collect insects and small rodents. The spiders loved him for it. In return, they left his private collection alone and made sure the rest of the forest inhabitants did the same.

This was Kurama's target, a small shiny red flower that sat prettily on a mess of bleeding vines. The sap had burned all of the grass away from the area where he'd planted it, but the flower itself attracted all sorts of creatures. He was glad to have the spiders guarding the area. He didn't even want to think what would happen if one of the centaurs got near the plant. The flower had three petals left. If those were plucked the hapless thief would find himself eaten alive. Messy.

Kurama crouched, his silky fur brushing the cleared dirt as he focused his energy into the ground, deep to where the roots had curled around a nearby tree. Growing a plant was easy compared to reverting one to seed form. But he couldn't leave it here now that he was done with it.

He'd dosed himself and Hiei the moment he realized they would be facing spell-casting wizards. The third petal he'd used on Lupin last night. But he didn't think he would be able to trick Snape into taking it. As a potion-maker, the man was the sort who just might realize what it was, and they couldn't risk that. Hopefully with Hiei staying close to Snape, that wouldn't be a problem. Hiei was more than fast enough to intercept a spell.

Kurama couldn't exactly explain to the wizarding world what the plant was for. If they knew demons had a ward against their most deadly spell, it would break the balance. Koenma would kill him if he let that happen, assuming Hiei didn't get to him first.

.-.-  
TBC

Next up, Hermione breaks the rules. o.O


	5. Restricted Section, Kitsune Tails

Category: Harry Potter-YYH crossover  
Warnings: none  
Author: Arigatomina  
Email: arigatoumina (a) hotmail . com  
Website: www . geocities . com / arigatomina

**Higher Learning**

_Part 5: Restricted Section; Kitsune Tails_

The halls had never seemed so dark when looking out from beneath Harry's invisibility cloak. Hermione knew it was just a difference of feeling hidden versus vulnerable, but that didn't stop the school from looking much darker than she'd expected. It seemed to take hours for her to get to her destination, and every dark corner she passed appeared to be watching her. Disconcerting, creepy, and-

'_All in my imagination,'_ she thought firmly. _'I'm not used to this sort of thing, that's all.'_

A person would think after being friends with Harry and Ron for so many years that she'd have grown accustomed to sneaking around and breaking the rules. She'd certainly done her share of restricted potions and spells for the sake of their exploits. But this was different. She wasn't sneaking across the school to save lives or the world. She was after a book for the sole purpose of appeasing her curiosity.

It really shouldn't have surprised her that Harry had refused to help. He didn't exactly have anything to gain, since she wasn't playing hero. Settling her curiosity was a private mission, so it was just as well that she went alone to do it.

She was still angry with him. She'd stay resentful until she was safely back in the Gryffindor common room, and no amount of reasonableness on her part would change that. She'd asked a simple favor, the first ever, and he'd refused to help. She still couldn't believe his gall.

It wasn't like she hadn't helped him with each and every one of his hair-brained ideas. And she hadn't even asked him to break the rules with her, the way he and Ron had done to her so often in the past. No, she'd simply asked to borrow his cloak for a quick run to the library. And his response? Absolutely not, unless he and Ron went with her, like always.

After all they'd been through together, she'd have thought he would trust her a little. It wasn't as if she'd be seen by anyone. And he'd already had his cloak confiscated more than once – he always got it back again. She honestly didn't see what the problem was. All she knew was that the one time she'd asked a favor of him, he'd refused outright and even had the nerve to tell her she shouldn't break the rules for something as small as curiosity.

'_Like he has any room to talk. I've never met such an unreasonable, infuriating and hypocritical git in all my-'_

"Lumos…"

Hermione jumped and spun, her wand arm bumping into the shelf behind her and sending a small book down on her head. She bit her tongue and stared dumbly at the glowing light a few feet from her, watching as it drew close enough for her to see the holder.

"What are you doing bumping around in the dark?" asked Ron.

"I told you she'd get caught on her own," Harry muttered, pulling his cloak off his shoulders and frowning around the dark library.

"Harry…! Ron, what do you think you're doing? I said I didn't need your-"

"Right," Ron said, waving a hand at her, "you don't need our help. That's why you're looking for a book in the dark, is it? Makes perfect sense to me."

Hermione bristled, not about to forget that she'd specifically said she didn't need help from them, or that they were doing exactly what she'd told them not to do – breaking the rules for her sake.

"For your information," she said testily, "I know exactly which book I want – I don't need to wave a light around to get it. Unlike the two of you, I don't have a cloak to hide under, so I can't _afford_ to draw attention to myself. Which means, either put that out or go away before you get me caught!"

Harry winced at the resentful yet bossy glare Hermione sent them. He'd known she'd react that way, really he had. And he'd told Ron before they left that they should just stay back and watch to make sure no one spotted her – she wouldn't have known they were there, and they'd have had time to toss the cloak over her if anyone came around. Leave it to Ron to blow that plan without a second thought.

"Don't be sore," Ron said warily. "We just want in on it. If something's got you curious enough to break into the restricted section, it's bound to be interesting. We're here to learn, too, you know."

Silence passed over the three of them as they looked at each other. Ron was holding onto his sincere expression until it threatened to crack around the edges, Harry holding his breath so he wouldn't snort at the ridiculous lie, and Hermione trying her best to stay mad at the two of them. After a moment, she heaved a long sigh and gave up.

"Fine," sighed Hermione, "but do put out that light. I don't feel at all comfortable sneaking around with the two of you over this book. If we get caught, it'll be entirely on my head for dragging you into it."

Ron extinguished his wand and ducked closer so he could almost see Hermione in the near pitch-black library. "All right, but you know if we got caught we'd just say we followed you to try and talk you into going back to the dormitory. That scored points when Neville tried it. Who knows, we might even make up what we lost in Potions."

"I wouldn't count on it," Hermione scoffed.

She shook the sleeve of her robe back and held out her left hand as she waved her wand. "Accio _'Wallabin's Guide to Muggle Superstitions'_."

"Muggle what?" asked Ron, shock making his voice a little louder than he'd intended. "All of this trouble for a book on muggles!"

Hermione shushed him irritably and caught the thick book that floated over to her outstretched hand. "Really, Ron. I'll explain when we get back."

"It better be good," Ron grumbled. "You break the rules for a restricted book on muggles – you live with them…! As if there's anything you don't already know. Didn't you take Muggle Studies last year?"

Harry sighed and didn't voice his agreement. He'd expected something risky like a forbidden spell book, but since it was Hermione, he couldn't be too surprised that she'd go to so much trouble for something so simple. It was no wonder she hadn't told him what she was after. He'd never have agreed to give her his cloak over a book on muggles.

"Can we go now?" asked Harry.

"I'm going," Hermione snipped. "Whether you come or not is up to you."

"Oh, really," Ron said, rolling his eyes. "We should just leave you here if you're going to be like that."

"Well, if you'd wait till we're safe, I'd explain exactly what's so important about this book," Hermione shot back. "Do you really think I'd risk getting in trouble over a simple muggle history book?"

"It wouldn't be the first time," said Ron.

"It most certainly would be-"

"I'm leaving now," Harry said warningly, pulling his cloak up.

His friends sent mutual looks of _'this isn't over yet, just you wait'_ and joined him under the invisibility cloak. It was almost enough to make him smirk, or maybe sigh in resignation. He could always tell when Hermione got angry about something – she didn't let go until she had a nice bicker session, usually with Ron since he was so quick to volunteer himself. Harry preferred to stand back and let them have at it. Arguing with Hermione was as fun as Advanced Potions, a bloody awful headache and no fun at all.

They shuffled a little at first, the usual bit of getting close enough to move together under the cloak, and in sync enough not to trip each other up while they walked. Then they edged over to the door of the library and sent a quick look down the hall. Harry immediately tensed and jerked his friends back inside and out of sight.

"Did you see that?" he asked quietly, slipping a folded parchment out of his robes. "That thing at the corner of the hall?"

"I didn't see anything," Hermione frowned.

She exchanged a suspicious look with Ron and the two peaked back out the door. The hall was just as dark as it had been earlier, almost eerily dark. But after a few minutes of intense staring, they saw what had spooked Harry. There was _something_ at the end of the hall. The only question was what? Ghost, professor, a new moving statue that had wandered into the wrong hallway – in Hogwarts it could be anything.

"It's not showing on the map," Harry said grimly.

He'd spread out the Marauder's map and was scowling down at it, the tip of his wand illuminated just enough to make out the little names and dots that represented people. Hermione and Ron joined him, and he was relieved to toss the cloak over all three of them. That blocked out the light of his wand and gave him more time to really study the map.

"It's right here," said Harry. "But the closest person to that spot is…Lupin!"

"That's no where near the office he used last time," Hermione noted. "If he's too ill to teach his class, he shouldn't be up this late."

"That's a classroom," said Ron, "isn't it?"

"Yes," said Hermione, "at least, it was a classroom last year. I suppose they may have changed it since then…"

"But that doesn't settle the _thing_ that's standing out there," Harry frowned, brushing his wand over the spot at the end of the hall.

"It might have been a statue," Ron said, his voice not very certain at all. "Maybe…"

"Well, it can't be a person," said Hermione. "That map shows everyone in Hogwarts."

"Come to that, why is Filtch in his room?"

Harry looked over to the spot Ron was pointing at and frowned in confusion. "He's not patrolling the halls. No one is…!"

"That is strange," Hermione whispered.

"Blimey," Ron blurted, shoving a finger against the map. "Who is _that_? Shoochey Minah-minnow?"

"Shuuichi," Hermione corrected. "It's Japanese…"

"All right," said Ron, "but what's he doing in the Forbidden Forest? You think it's one of those strangers out for a stroll in s-spider infested…woods in the middle of the night…?"

"Whoever it is, he's coming towards the castle," said Harry. "We need to get back to the dormitory before he gets inside. No one else is moving on here, so if anyone sees us, it would be him."

He frowned a bit longer, still staring at the empty spot at the corner of the hall. Then he wiped the map and folded it away resolutely. The map had yet to fail them, so he saw no reason not to trust it. And they were in Hogwarts, after all. Moving pictures, moving statues, those things did happen.

Despite his resolution that the map couldn't be wrong, Harry hesitated when they reached the doorway. It was still there, a dark lumpy _thing_ at the end of the hall he could swear was just waiting for them to venture out. He heard Ron gulp beside him and knew they saw it as well. Then Hermione took a deep breath and prodded his back. Harry grimaced and started walking toward the thing.

They were five feet from it when they saw what it was. Ron froze, nearly knocking Hermione over, and Harry shot an arm out to keep the cloak from slipping. None of them dared to so much as breathe.

It really was a thing, as Harry had thought. But it was also a person. More accurately, it was a person perched on top of a thing. The thing was a two-foot tall, dark lumpy growth of plants all twisted onto each other with just a few leaf-like tendrils curled on the outside of the mass. The person perched on top of the mass was the small dark-haired stranger they'd seen in their classes earlier that day.

As far as Harry could tell, the stranger was staring right at them. When they tentatively inched forward, those dark red eyes followed.

Harry was filled with an absurd urge to laugh. There they were, inching past someone who he just _knew_ could see them as clearly as Moody had, or Dumbledore himself. But the stranger didn't move anything but his eyes, and he didn't make a sound.

The moment they were around the corner, Ron let out a trembling sigh and pushed on Harry's back, urging him to make a quick run back to the Gryffindor tower. His friend took two steps forward and the cloak was tugged off. Hermione, who had been behind the two boys, was the first to turn. She choked and fell onto her backside, taking Ron and Harry down with her.

Hiei raised an eyebrow at the ridiculous pile of ningen children, the incandescent cloak hanging limp from his hand. "Are you all morons?"

Harry blanched and bristled at the same time. The stranger wasn't a professor but he could still turn them in. That didn't mean he had to like being insulted when he already felt foolish for being caught.

"There is a curfew," Hiei continued, his eyebrow twitching when they made no move to extricate them from that clumsy pile. "Roaming the halls, you may be taken for an enemy."

Hermione shot a wary look at Ron and gently pushed the boy a little to the left so she could pull her leg out from under him. She'd dropped her book and the thought of losing it, after all the trouble they were in now, was unacceptable. She inched a hand toward it and shuffled her robes so they obscured what she was reaching for. It was a wasted effort.

The girl Kurama had taking an immediate liking to glared when Hiei swiped the book. He scowled at the thing, turning it in one palm. Then he shot Hermione a disgruntled look.

"You're out here for a book?" asked Hiei.

"Yes," Hermione said quickly, her mind flying a mile a minute. "I f-forgot it in the library during my break. I know we aren't supposed to break curfew, but I just had to have it to complete my assignments for tomorrow. My grades are the most important thing in the world to me, you see. I can't fail my first assignment, I just can't! So you see I had to have my book and my friends only followed me because they hoped to stop me. They knew I was wrong to have snuck out after curfew and it won't ever happen again because I would die before getting either of them into trouble on my account. And now that I have my book back I just have to go finish my assignment or I'll never get it done in time. I promise I'll never do this again, really I won't!"

Ron's lips twitched, but he forced his face to stay frozen in a fearful expression. If he'd so much as glanced at Harry, they'd both have broken into laughter at the impossibly airheaded tone Hermione managed to put on. No one who had ever spoken to the girl would fall for that. But the stranger was staring at her with an almost queasy expression, his left eyebrow twitching visibly as he leaned further away from her.

Hiei had heard some outrageous spiels in his time, but this one made his stomach flip over. He shoved his hand out, nearly hitting the babbling girl in the face with the book. "Go. Don't let me see you out after curfew again."

"Oh, thank you ever so much," Hermione gushed, her face a little sore at the desperate smile she plastered on it. "And if my friend could just get his cloak back I promise-"

"Enough," Hiei growled irritably. "Take it and go."

The girl beamed at him and snatched the cloth up, tossing it around her and her friends and hurrying them off down the hall. Hiei stared after them, absolute relief making his shoulders slump. She was a better babbler than Botan, and a far worse liar. That was a nasty combination. He was just glad to have them gone.

Oh, but Kurama was going to pay for this one…

Hiei scowled and stalked down the hall after the bumbling children. He didn't get far before he found the person he was looking to rail at. Unfortunately, Kurama was looking happy and playful, and that was the last thing he wanted to deal with at the moment.

"Some watch guard you are," Hiei growled. "Didn't you sense the moment they came out of their tower?"

"Of course," Kurama said cheerfully. "But it was just Hermione and her friends. You know what Lupin said about them, they're driven by curiosity."

"Right. Curiosity that took them right past your Mirosira."

Kurama stared at the frustrated anger tugging across Hiei's face. Then he gave a slow smirk and folded his arms over his chest. "Hiei, did you really think I was so distracted I couldn't tell the difference between a threat and students? It only recoiled because I knew you were there, where you shouldn't have been in the first place. You didn't have to protect them from it. Though, it was very…humane of you to do so."

Hiei's hands curled into fists and he clenched his teeth down on the urge to growl. Sometimes it was far too tempting to strangle the joker, especially given Kurama's penchant to tease him when he was already in a foul mood.

"Regardless," Hiei spat, "you should have come back as soon as they entered the hall. They might have taken any manner of…_book_. There are no wards on their little _restricted_ section."

"You're just mad because you wasted your time being nice when you didn't have to," Kurama said, waving a hand at Hiei's frustrated glare. "I had a good idea what she was looking for, and why her friends followed her. There wasn't any danger to or from them. Why are you awake, anyway?"

His friend blinked and looked away, face screwed up in his typical _'I don't want to talk about it and you can't make me so stop looking at me like that' _expression. Kurama raised an eyebrow.

"I know for a fact you haven't gotten more than three hours of sleep in the last week," Kurama lectured. "And you're starting to yawn so much you'll end up swallowing an owl at breakfast, if you aren't careful."

"This isn't about me," Hiei sniffed, shooting a glare at Kurama. "It's about you not watching well enough."

"So you're just roaming the halls to clean up after me," Kurama mocked. "I suppose I should leave you alone, then. After all, if you're eating owls, at least you're eating meat."

"They're too fat and pampered to be considered meat."

Kurama smirked, a silent laugh shaking his shoulders. His friend let out a little sigh and sent him a tired look. He quickly wiped the smile off his face. "Well?"

"I don't like the dreams," Hiei admitted.

"Ah."

Hiei turned and started down the hall, slowly enough for Kurama to fall into step beside him. Patrolling the school was a very boring task, but they'd made a routine of it. Now Kurama knew why Hiei kept showing up even when it wasn't his turn to keep watch.

"I never considered the effect Kedavin would have on someone who doesn't forget things," said Kurama. "But the side effects only last two months, less for full koorime. You should be over it in a few more weeks. I can make you something to get rid of the dreams, but I doubt you'd take it."

Hiei gave him a knowing look and sniffed in distaste. "No. In a sleep too deep for dreams I'd be useless if there was an attack."

"Right."

"I'm not as tired as I act," said Hiei.

Kurama gave a wide smile, his eyes glittering merrily. "I noticed. You're really enjoying this, driving him up the wall. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were starting to like him."

"Hn. He acts like Yomi with Mukuro's condescension, but he flusters too easily."

"And you're never one to miss an opportunity," Kurama smirked. "You know he's blaming me for your behavior. You're going to make it very difficult when we switch."

"I know."

Hiei was giving him a smug look and Kurama sighed. He really wasn't looking forward to the full moon, not as irritable as Hiei would make Snape by that time. But he understood Hiei's reasoning.

The Potions Master had a habit of instinctively rubbing people the wrong way, and he'd turned that on Hiei the first time they'd met. Of course Hiei had automatically gone on the offensive, that was just the way he was. And as often as Hiei had argued with Kuwabara, he was very good at knowing just how to rile a person with a short temper. Snape had never stood a chance.

"Why don't you go kill something in the forest," suggested Kurama. "If you go deep enough I don't think anyone here would hear it. That would give you a nice three to four hours of downtime."

"Maybe next time," Hiei sniffed. "The horses are annoying after you go through and the old man doesn't want me killing any of them."

"Centaurs and Dumbledore," Kurama corrected automatically.

"Whatever."

.-.-

Ron started in the moment the portrait closed behind them, his grin almost wider than his face. "That was the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my entire life. Hermione, you've outdone yourself this time. Never knew you had it in you!"

"Neither did I," Hermione admitted, a little sheepish now that they were back in their common room, book secure and punishment free. "But he was new, so he couldn't have known anything about me. I could tell from his expression that he was quite uncomfortable, so all I had to do was keep talking until he wanted nothing more than to have us gone."

"You sure can talk, too," Harry commented, giving her a funny look. "I thought you only did that when you argued or lectured us about not studying enough."

"Really," Ron sighed, "I didn't think we'd make it out of that one. And why didn't he show up on the map? The bloke was sitting right there the entire time and not even a dot on the map."

"That is rather odd," Hermione admitted, her flush calming into a thoughtful frown. "And if he was inside, I don't know who the one outside was. Kurama introduced himself to me, so I know his name isn't Shuuichi. If there are three of them, Dumbledore is really doing something strange this year, not having said a word about them to us."

"Forget your new idol for a minute," Ron scoffed. He rolled his eyes, thinking of how quick Hermione was crush on any good looking older boy – or professor – she laid eyes on. It really did a number on her otherwise sensible head.

"The question," Harry agreed, albeit less rudely, "is why he didn't show on the map."

He pulled the parchment out and set it over the table closest to them, Ron and Hermione following so they could study it together. The professors were still in their rooms, Filtch as well. The only moving blip was the one they'd seen earlier, Shuuichi Minamino, going down the hall toward the Slytherin dorm. They watched it until it turned and started back up the hall, the pace never shifting.

"New patrol?" Ron guessed. "That would explain Filtch not watching the halls."

"Possibly," Hermione frowned. "But Kurama isn't on here, or that stranger. He couldn't have left the castle that quickly."

"Maybe he's a mix of something," Harry offered. "The house elves don't show on the map, but we know they're here. Maybe he's a dwarf."

Hermione shot him a very dark look, not the least bit amused at his lack of study. "Have you _ever_ seen a dwarf, Harry?"

"No…"

"They're two feet tall," Hermione lectured. "And even if he _were_ half dwarf, he'd still show on the map. Hagrid does, and he's half giant."

"All right!" Harry said quickly, raising his hands in defense. "It was just a guess."

She sighed and slowly let her shoulders slump. "I'm sorry, Harry. I shouldn't take my frustration out on you. It isn't like we've actually studied dwarves in class, so you wouldn't know. And it _was_ a reasonable guess. If he weren't human he might not show on the map."

"Mrs. Norris does," said Ron.

Hermione blinked and abruptly scowled again. "You're right."

"Maybe she's an exception," said Harry. "She's been here since…since the map was made, so it's useful to have her labeled. None of the other pets are marked. The only animals that show up are animagus wizards – and Lupin, of course."

"Let's face it," Ron sighed, "we don't know _what_ that bloke is and we're not going to figure it out by staring at this map all night."

He straightened and flattened his palms against the table, sending Hermione a pointed look. "Now about this muggle book we risked our necks for…"

Hermione's eyes narrowed and she lifted her nose, just a bit, in disdain. "It isn't _really_ a muggle book, Ron Weasley. And even if it _were_, there's no reason to say it like that makes it useless."

Ron blinked, color rising over his face. "Easy, 'Mione, I didn't mean it like _that_…"

"The name just doesn't sound restricted," Harry explained, eager to avoid an argument that would keep them up all night without ever letting them find out why they'd snuck out in the first place.

"I know it doesn't," Hermione admitted, dropping her eyes with a little frown. "But it was the only reference I could find for the word I was looking for. Youko. An old muggle myth."

She glanced up, almost blushing despite her stubborn frown. "A fairy tale story, that's what muggle superstitions are."

Ron gave an uneasy look, struggling not to say anything that would set her off again. "So you wanted to look up a story? But it's not a real thing?"

"Witches and dragons are fairy tale creatures according to muggle superstitions," Hermione explained. "But we exist as much as goblins do. I couldn't find anything in the library about multi-tailed foxes except for the word youko. So if I have to look in a fairy tale to find out what they are, that's what I'll do."

"Why are you so set on reading about youkos?" asked Harry.

"Multi-tailed," Ron said, before she could answer. "You're talking about that guy! Really…I might have known."

"Honestly, Ron," Hermione sighed, "just because I had a crush on a professor once, that doesn't mean I turn into a twit every time an interesting stranger is involved. For your information, Kurama is not and cannot be an animagus. An animagus takes the form of a non-magical animal. There are no foxes with more than one tail, not non-magical ones. That only leaves this word, youko. And before you ask when I heard it, he thought it to me. Yes, _thought_ it to me. Laugh all you like, that's precisely why I didn't ask the two of you to go with me tonight."

Harry and Ron glanced at each other, struggling to wipe the smiles off their faces. It wasn't just what she'd said, but the way she said it. Once Hermione got going, her face turned an interesting shade of dark pink and her nose started twitching like some sort of rabbit. They'd never tell her about it, but it was very funny to watch.

"Sorry," Harry managed. "So what does the book say about this youko?"

Hermione took a deep breath. Then she gave a wide, pleased smile. "One way to find out."

She opened the book and skimmed over the first few pages, before flipping to the back and skimming those as well. Then she split it open to the middle and started skimming again. It only took a few minutes for her to find what she was looking for. She gave a little pleased laugh and turned it so they could see the picture.

"It's organized just like a real book," she said happily, "a muggle book, I mean. There's an index and everything. I really can't stand how disorganized Hogwarts' library is without even a card catalog to go by. It's no wonder students hate having to study, they spend their entire breaks just trying to find the right book out of the thousands there. And even if they know which book to look for, the choas of so many people using accio at once would- "

"Tell us about the youko," Harry interrupted, giving a quick smile to the way Hermione blinked in surprise.

"Right," said Hermione. "Well, you see the picture? That's a youko."

She let them stare at the little muggle-made photocopy of a very old painting, complete with fading and aged wrinkles on the yellowed edges. It was hard to make out the small reddish fox that stood in the dark background of the shot, the tails blurring into the sky behind it. Then she turned it back and read for a moment before speaking again.

"The legend of the youko goes back to this one, the Youko Kyuubi. He was-"

Hermione stopped suddenly, frowning at the page. "It says he was huge…nearly twenty feet tall… That can't be right. He is described as having anywhere from nine to fifteen tails and being immortal…?"

Ron and Harry exchanged a look and moved so they stood behind her, where they could read over her shoulder. The multi-tailed fox they'd seen was barely two and half feet tall with five tails – the size of a small dog at best. The thing Hermione described sounded more like a monster.

"It says here that they couldn't kill him," Hermione continued, her voice small with uncertainty. "They had to seal his spirit in a newborn baby. It was _'the first reported incident of transmigration'_ and the source of the term _youko_, or _spirit fox_."

"What a crock," Ron laughed. "A thing that big in a baby?"

"His spirit," Hermione said, though she was as doubtful as he was. "It says if they hadn't sealed it in, it would have taken possession of the infant _"while keeping its sense of self."_ I suppose if they couldn't kill it, locking it away might have worked…"

"You don't buy this, do you?" asked Harry.

"It does sound silly," Hermione admitted. She skimmed further, giving them the gist of what was written.

"There were reports of another more modern youko, but it was passed off as a myth. A young youko – they call it young here, but that's up to four hundred years old, this is beyond silly…was rumored to have controlled one ninth of the earth at one point. But he was never seen by anyone who lived to bare testimony, so only the legend was passed on."

"One ninth of the world," Ron grinned, "and no one ever saw it. Why can't we read things like this in classes?"

Hermione continued doggedly, though she'd also begun to wonder if there was any point to it. "He was said to be a white youko with a humanoid form, proof that he was younger than Kyuubi who _"had aged beyond the recollection of such an infantile aspect"_ – whatever _that_ means. This is contradictory…if it started as a fox and evolved to a humanoid aspect, why would it revert back to the animal form again as it aged…?"

"You're thinking too hard about it," Ron said softly. He could see the miserable slump to Hermione's shoulders, and he had an idea she was setting herself up to be moody for who knew how long.

"Well," Hermione sighed, "it says there's an artist depiction of the young one in the back, along with a better look at Kyuubi."

She flipped to the page given. And the three of them stared in disbelief. It wasn't an artist depiction, and it certainly wasn't a muggle shot. The page was filled with a vibrant wizard photograph. If any proof was needed of the creature's existence, they had it.

"Wow," Ron breathed.

"It's huge," Harry echoed, staring in disbelief.

The book had a title beneath it that was blurred with age, the only thing readable being the name _Kyuubi_ and the word _Hokage_. But the photo was as new as the day it had been taken. The fox towered over the heads of the strangely dressed men who surrounded it, long almost serpentine red tails writhing so much it was hard to count them. It ducked forward as they watched, immense claws swiping a man and sending him spinning away in a spray of blood. And it grinned out of the photograph, revealing sharp teeth as long as a man's arm. It looked as if it wanted nothing more than to leap out at them. Ron gulped.

"Okay," Ron said quickly, "looks like you were right again, Hermione. Can we turn the page now?"

Hermione shook herself out of a light trance, blinking at those writhing tails. For a second there she'd gotten the distinct impression they were talking to her, some rhythmic message in that living sway. She rubbed a hand over her eyes and flipped the page.

This was an artist's depiction, in full charcoal sketch and faded, smeared watercolors. It was a man with long white hair, ears, and a tail, but the features were almost comical.

Harry grinned when he saw the bloody fangs on the man, whose face looked like nothing so much as the vampire posters for old movies he'd seen as a child. Its fingers were curled bloody claws holding streams of jewels and what was probably intended to be entrails. It looked more like colored banners in the painting. And he was standing on a hoard of wealth and jewelry, all mixed in with body parts and green streaks that might have been grass of some sort.

Ron snorted softly and Harry broke. He muffled his laugh in a hand, hoping Hermione wouldn't be too offended by it. The painting really was silly compared to the real danger in the previous photograph.

"What's it say there?" asked Ron, grinning as he pointed to the wrinkled title beneath the photo.

Hermione shrugged. She was fighting her own helpless smile at the painting, only because it really did look ridiculously overdone. What had been intended as frightening came out absurd. The edge of the page was crinkled and broken too much to read.

"Reparo," she murmured, waving her wand at the mutilated paper.

It straightened out, fixing itself back into a smooth page. And the writing, though faded and splotched, was legible. She stared at it blankly until Harry prodded her shoulder.

"Well?" asked Harry. "What does it say?"

'_It's like some colossal joke and I don't know the punchline…'_

Ron raised an eyebrow and leaned forward to see Hermione's blank expression. "You okay in there?"

"I'm fine," Hermione muttered crossly. "What it says is _'Youko Kurama; scourge of the underworld'_ and don't you dare ask me what that means."

.-.-  
TBC

Next up, Draco teaches Hermione about demons. o.O


	6. Demon Attacks, Research Mode

_Category:_ Harry Potter-YYH crossover  
_Warnings:_ spot of violence and a smidgen of gore  
_Author:_ Arigatomina  
_Email:_ arigatoumina (a) hotmail . com  
_Website:_ www . geocities . com / arigatomina

**Higher Learning**

_Part 6: Demon Attacks; Research Mode_

Wednesday found rivaling houses in two antagonistic groups at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. The Slytherin students were standing back from Hagrid's latest pet, while Harry and company were the leaders of the Gryffindors, the rest of which weren't about to go closer than necessary.

As much as Harry liked Hagrid, he couldn't blame his housemates for being wary. Hagrid didn't have a very good track record, and his new monster was staring up at them with a face too humanoid for comfort. Ron gulped beside him, and Harry did his best not to grimace.

It was three feet long and looked like a big gray lizard with a bald human head, a skeletal mouth of fangs, and pincers for hands. According to Hagrid, it was a Geezard, a very playful magical creature that liked to jump out and scare people who passed by its habitat.

Harry could well imagine how it scared people. He swore the thing was grinning at them, its long pincers clipping together like some softskinned crab. That long snake tail hadn't stopped flicking since it crawled out to greet Hagrid. And Hagrid could claim it was _'just a lil 'un'_ if he wanted, but the thing was big enough to swallow any one of them if it decided to.

"So," Ron started, "you think we could sic that thing on Malfoy? It would get food poisoning and then we wouldn't have to deal with either of them."

Harry smirked and sent a look over to where Draco was half hiding behind Goyle with a pasty white, visibly queasy face. Most of the time they had to share their Care of Magical Creatures class with the Slytherin house, their rivals would stand back and look disdainful at Hagrid's enthusiasm. But the moment their professor brought out one of his more interesting beasties, that disdain turned to pure disgust and outright fear. It was almost worth it.

Hagrid was explaining how to react if a geezard scurried out of the underbrush, much of his warnings consisting of don't smile, don't speak, don't touch. Since none of them cared to do any of those things, Harry glanced back to where Hermione was gossiping with Lavender and Parvati. When Hermione didn't pay attention to a professor, she always had a very good reason.

"Now you c'n put em to sleep with magic," Hagrid was saying, his eyes glowing fondly at the evilly grinning geezard. "But feed'n em makes em come back to ya. Right good guards they be with a lil fish now an' then."

He turned to the class and beamed at Harry and Ron, the only ones within a few feet of his pet. "So get yer fish an' jus toss em over. Aim for 'is head, he'll catch em. One at a time, now. Don't want 'im to get too riled."

Hermione left off her talk so she could join Harry and Ron. Her face twisted a bit at the slimy fish in her pail, but she managed to get a good grip on one of them, holding it by the tail between pinched fingers. She quickly tossed it at the geezard.

The creature shimmied strangely, its torso lifting off the ground so it could catch the fish in its mouth. The sounds of it gobbling the meal down were enough to make a few of the Gryffindor girls groan and turn away from both their pails and the geezard.

Now that she'd taken her turn, Hermione moved behind Harry and Ron, her voice quiet. The boys listened without glancing back, their attention on the fish they were waiting to throw and the ugly creature.

"It isn't just this class," said Hermione. "The fourth year Ravenclaws had Magical Creatures with the Slytherins yesterday and the strangers weren't there for it. So far the only classes they've been in are Potions and Defense, all grades. That rules out any pretense of them being students. Warner told Lavender the black-haired one only joins the Slytherins for breakfast. He doesn't follow to the rest of their classes."

"Warner? Who's Warner?" Ron was wiping his hands on his robe after having thrown one of his fish. Now he sent a suspicious look at Hermione.

"He's a Slytherin," she admitted, "but he's a fifth year and he really isn't _that_ bad. I think Lavender has a crush on him, she's been talking about him since yesterday."

Ron's face turned a strange color, pale behind his freckles but pink around his temples. "A fifth year _and_ a Slytherin!"

"Yes, well, I can't say much for her taste, but the fact remains that he tells her all sorts of things about his House. If you thought we were confused, you should hear what the Slytherins are saying. Malfoy claims Dumbledore is trying to fool the Ministry by training new teachers who haven't even left an official magic school."

She sniffed a bit, her expression disgruntled. "I know Dumbledore wouldn't do anything so underhanded, but...Malfoy does have a point."

Harry's face screamed his disbelief, and he was startled so much he dropped his fish as he turned to look at Hermione. He'd been about to ask, the way Ron would have if he hadn't just swallowed his tongue, when the bloody hell Hermione had started agreeing with anything Malfoy said. A rough slithering sound and huffing breaths interrupted him.

"Careful there!" Hagrid bellowed, reaching out to sweep Harry away from the fish he'd dropped.

The geezard ignored the students who scrambled back, its attention on the fish that flopped on the grass in front of it. Hagrid heaved a sigh of relief and sent a worried look down at Harry.

"You all right there?" asked Hagrid. "You don' wanna be droppin' the fish, now. He knows its for 'im, so he'll be goin' after em if you don' throw em far 'nough."

"Right," Harry blurted, wincing at the laughs coming from the Slytherin group. "Sorry about that, it slipped."

"A lil slip'ry they are," Hagrid agreed, his attention turning as he waved for another student to toss one. "Jus' get a grip on the tail an' fling em over. Don' be scared, they're jus' fish."

The girl he was talking to moaned a little, her hand shaking with disgust. She flung the slimy fish so far the geezard scurried back to where it had started, near the edge of the forest. Hagrid moved on to the next one, waving hesitant and wary youths to come closer and not having much success.

Harry sighed and turned an accusing look on Hermione, who frowned back at him. He opened his mouth to say what he'd meant to earlier, only to be interrupted again. Ron had cleared his throat after that choking incident.

"When the bloody hell," Ron blurted, "did you start agreeing with Malfoy?"

Hermione scowled, folding her arms over her chest defensively. "I'm not agreeing with him, I'm just saying he may have a point. We haven't seen them outside of Potions and Defense, and if they're sitting through all the classes, they could be student teachers."

She hurried to explain that to Ron, Harry understanding what she meant from his time in muggle schools. "Student teachers sit in on the classes they plan to teach. Usually they'd help the professor, but considering Snape is teaching, they wouldn't be able to do much."

"That still doesn't explain them not showing on the map," said Harry.

"No," Hermione agreed, "and it doesn't explain Kurama. So far no one else has realized he isn't an animagus. We need to keep that to ourselves. If Dumbledore wanted everyone to know, I'm sure he would have told us at the banquet."

"Keep what to ourselves?" asked Ron. "We don't know anything except that _you_ say he's not an animagus, and he's named after some albino monster. It's not like anyone would believe that, anyway."

"We know there's another one of them," Harry argued. "That Shoo-itchy person we saw on the map."

"Shuuichi," said Hermione.

"That's what I said."

Hermione sighed and gave up, her attention shifting back to Lavender. When it came to gossip, that girl was her best bet. "So far people are latching onto the student teacher idea, though the Slytherins are the only ones saying Dumbledore is doing it against the Ministry's orders. Kurama has spoken to a few of the Ravenclaw students, fifth years, but no one seems to know the name of the other one. I think they're afraid to speak to him."

"Good reason," Ron sniffed. "He's creepy as hell, lurking in the halls like that. The only person he's said a word to is Malfoy. And he sits with the Slytherins! Who'd want to talk to him? And I just _know_ he was smirking right with Snape when we had to write that essay. What _is_ a pop-quiz, anyway?"

Hermione couldn't help the small smile that pulled her lips.

They'd had their second defense class yesterday, and while the first half had concerned the rare Hexadragon, the second half had been an in-class essay about the wyvern they'd been assigned to study. She'd been a little disappointed that they only had a half hour to write it, since she could have happily gone into much more detail in her essay. But having the written work in class like that had been different and almost a fun challenge at quality over quantity. Fun for her, but not for her friends. Half the Gryffindors and _all_ of the Hufflepuffs had gone white when Snape ordered the class to start writing.

Kurama had been the one to make the comment about pop quizzes as they'd filed out, stacking their essays on Snape's desk. The redhead had said that things could have been worse, since they had been warned of the test. His statement had drawn a few blushes from the girls and a dark scowl from Ron.

Hermione had known exactly what he meant, and she'd been curious about it - either Kurama had lived with muggles, or he'd studied them enough to know about muggle schools. Either way, it made her want to hang around and talk to him some more.

"A pop quiz," said Hermione, "is a quiz you don't get warned about. But that wasn't what we had since Snape warned us we'd be tested on our reading in the next class. I know you read the chapters on wyverns, so there's no reason to complain."

"There's plenty reason!" said Ron, his eyes wide. "I thought it would be a test, like questions and answers. I wasn't expecting to write an essay on the spot like that. And we only had thirty minutes to write it! I panicked, I swear I couldn't remember a thing I'd read after that fox stuff the night before. That's your fault, you know."

"I told you not to follow me, so don't you _dare_ try to blame-"

"Look at the geezard," Harry interrupted, glad to have a good distraction from the impending bicker session. "It's acting all funny."

Hermione and Ron turned to see what he meant, just as Hagrid noticed the same thing. The geezard had frozen in midreach, its torso off the ground. The fish landed in a mushy plop right beside it, but the creature gave no reaction. Its smile was gone, those small beady eyes darting back and forth.

"Hey, now," Hagrid murmured, confusion and concern twisting his face. "What's the matter?"

A loud crashing sounded in the forest behind the frozen creature. Hagrid straightened, going from surprise to disbelief to fear in a matter of seconds. "That's a-"

Something large lunged out of the forest and onto the geezard, which quickly disappeared in a torn spread of blood and scales. The horrified students panicked a moment later, the chaos drowning out Hagrid's shocked and angry bellow.

.-.-

Hiei noticed it first, from his comfortable perch on the window sill. He sent one look across the Defense classroom to Kurama. Then he twisted and disappeared out the window.

A few of the fourth years looked up in surprise from the chapter they'd been told to read. They had a clear view of Kurama as he stood and crossed to the window, Lupin and Snape watching warily.

The energy Kurama sensed wasn't enough to be a true threat, but they weren't taking any chances. He shifted, his hair and clothing bleeding to white so quickly none of the students actually _saw_ the change. There were gasps and a few frantic shuffles behind him when they spotted his youko form. Kurama ignored it.

He flattened his palms over the open window, tiny green vines creeping in a solid flow till the entire room glowed with a faint red light. The exits - and potential entrances - were blocked in a matter of seconds.

Kurama glanced over his shoulder, his pale golden eyes glittering at Snape's expression. The man was trying not to look worried, actually managing a faint scowl.

"Continue your class," Kurama said in Japanese. "Hiei should have it taken care of by the time the class is over. I'll lower the kekkai as soon as he comes back."

With a mottled scowl for the showy demon, Snape cleared his throat. He sent his darkest glare at the wide-eyed students. "Back to your reading."

The Ravenclaws were quick to respond, though most of them continued to sneak looks at the silver figure standing across the room. The Hufflepuffs sharing the class with them were a little slower. This was mostly because one of the smaller girls appeared to have fainted. Her friends propped her up in her seat, one of them letting out a little squeak of fear when Kurama smirked back at them.

Lupin sent a sweeping look over Kurama, noting the amused flick of the demon's long silver tail. The display was unexpected, but Kurama was still enjoying the attention. Lupin coughed quietly, hiding his smile behind his hand as he scooted over in his chair.

Kurama smirked at him and perched on the arm closest to the window. This wasn't how he'd planned to show his youko form - certainly not in front of a class of Hufflepuffs, who weren't nearly as fun to rile as the Slytherins - but it was still entertaining. It was just too bad Hiei had to miss it.

.-.-

The students should have run to the castle in a somewhat orderly group since they'd all been exposed to a number of scary looking magical creatures during their years at Hogwarts. Hagrid ordered them inside mere seconds after the thing started tearing into the geezard, so they really should have run as a group. Unfortunately the class was a water-oil mix of the bravest students at Hogwarts, and the students who were known to save themselves first at any cost.

Hagrid had rushed forward to attack the monster, though he knew it was too late to save his pet. The poor geezard wasn't anything but bits and pieces now. The sight was enough to make him roar in anger and slam his shoulder into the abadon's bony side. He knocked it onto its back and managed two good hits before it kicked him off, sharp talons scraping across his chest.

He shook the injury off, determined to keep the demon there long enough for the students to get to safety. A lot of them were smart, resourceful kids, but against this sort of monster, their wands wouldn't be much good.

A Gryffindor girl screamed as she was shoved aside and nearly trampled by Goyle. Two of her classmates immediately retaliated with a hex that, due to the panic, missed its target by a good four feet and sent Draco to the ground instead. After that it was something of a free-for-all, with only a fourth of the students actually running to the castle.

Harry and his friends hadn't gotten very far before they found themselves ducking over a prostrate Neville, who appeared to have been hit by a fist or two, rather than a spell. The boy was out cold. And they were quick to realize that Hagrid wasn't fairing much better. His large size made him a prime target for the spells that were flying around the yard, and even a half giant could only take so much before the hexes began to affect him. He stumbled for a moment, just long enough for the monster to overbalance him.

"It's bloody well going to _eat_ him!" Ron yelled.

Harry, being the student with the most experience at reacting on the spot, left his back to Ron and sent every hex he could think of at the monster. The disarming spell managed to knock it away from Hagrid, but nothing else so much as made a dent. It turned large insect eyes on him and straightened until it stood at a full ten feet tall.

Harry gulped and backed closer to Ron, his mind flying for more hexes he hadn't tried yet.

Hermione hurried to help, but she continued to keep an eye on the stray spells that were bouncing around behind them. They wouldn't do Hagrid much good if they were jittering around or flopping on the ground from a random curse.

The monster was watching them, mere feet from where Hagrid lay curled on the grass. But it wasn't moving anymore. It almost appeared to be swaying, spindly spider-like legs bent backwards and stretched grotesquely. Then its bony jaws opened as it took a deep breath. They could _hear_ the air pouring into its mouth.

"What _is_ it?" asked Harry, his eyes darting to Hermione. "Why is it just-"

"_Get down_!"

The three didn't stop to question the order, or to wonder who'd given it. They ducked, just as something cold burst in the air above them. Small flecks of ice showered on their heads, mixed with melted drops of liquid that stung where they landed.

Hiei knew he'd messed up by hesitating so long, and he made up for it now. He didn't really blame himself, considering the absolute stupidity he'd found on the yard. It had been enough to leave him staring in stark disbelief. Child wizards attacking each other while a potentially deadly demon prepared one of their own professors to be its next meal. It was mindboggling. He'd never understand humans. Never.

The Abadon had spotted him after a minute, reminding him of his task. He blasted through the poisonous ice attack as easily as he'd have dodged Kuwabara. And his leap took him right to the monster, with enough speed to send the thing flying onto its back. After that it was just a matter of indisposing it so he could find out what its purpose had been.

Ron hissed at the stinging red spots that lit up on the back of his neck, and he brushed off the bits of ice that had landed on Neville. He had an idea they'd burn when they melted. Harry and Hermione were brushing themselves off as well. Ron sent them a sharp look when he realized they weren't keeping an eye on the monster. Then he saw why.

"It's that _guy_," said Ron. "What does he think he's doing? Oh! Oh, that's just wrong…!"

Harry turned in time to see one of the monster's bony arms land a few feet from them, torn right out of its socket. He blanched and choked, his face turning pale green when the limb jerked a little before going still.

The other students must have remembered themselves because the spells died down, silence spreading over the yard. It was quiet enough that they could hear the sucking sound as Hiei finished dismembering the Abadon of those extra limbs. Then a new sound emerged as someone threw up noisily on the grass.

Hiei grimaced at the sounds the boy was making, and sent one disgusted look back at the student. If a legless Abadon made them sick, he could just imagine how they'd react to a headless one. He supposed he could have taken it into the forest first, but he wasn't going to pamper human children.

The demon gurgled, flopping a bit as it began the process of growing limbs to replace the ones Hiei had torn off. That would take at least an hour, so Hiei wasn't too concerned. He was crouched on the demon's plated chest, so he had a good view of its multi-faceted eyes. Holding its gaze, he tugged off his headband and opened his jagan.

The demon was obviously under a spell, probably imperius, which worked well against weak youkai. The only questions Hiei had was what exactly the target had been, and whether there was any point in letting him live once the spell was broken. Any demon who would let himself be used that way was better off dead. Otherwise, he'd just go right back to his 'master' and wait till he was used again.

'_Though that might not be a bad thing,'_ Hiei admitted to himself. _'You can take this memory with you…'_

Hagrid stirred and let out a low groan. Harry and Hermione hurried over to lever the large man into a seated position. They continued to stare at the stranger, their attention locked on a glowing green eye that appeared to be set in the boy's forehead.

"Un," Hagrid grunted. "When did he get here…? Guess I should be wond'rin how the buggy got in, on sec'nd thought…"

He shook his head, pushing the helpful hands off his shoulders. "I'm all right. You an' the rest go on back to the castle now. Not much I can do for a class when my pet's been eaten up…"

Hermione stood slowly, her eyes not shifting away from that green glow. The stranger was just sitting there, that green eye staring into the monster's face. She didn't know what to make of it, or why the sight of it made her stomach clench into a fearful knot. It was…unnatural. Alien.

A thought struck her mind like lightning. Hermione ducked back and caught Harry's arm, tugging him over to where Ron was trying to wake Neville up.

"Luna," said Hermione. "I need to talk to Luna, right now! Let's go inside. Here, Ron, you take that side and I'll take this one. Really, Neville, you could stand losing a little weight…"

"What do you want to see Loony for?" asked Ron, raising an eyebrow.

"I have an idea, about him." She jerked her head back to where the stranger was. "If anyone would know, it would be Luna. Those tabloids she reads, I'm sure she'd know. Yes, she's _just_ the person who'd know…"

Draco had recovered from his hex and was settled in a bragging swagger, a few Slytherins following him to the castle and hanging on every word. He sneered when he saw Harry, and raised his voice so it would carry.

"I recognized it immediately, of course," said Draco. "Our family had the skin of one of those, like a giant locust. My great grandfather killed it years ago. As far as demons go, they're nothing to worry about."

"Oh, right," Ron mocked, "and that's why you were crawling on your bum to get away from it. You're full of it Malfoy."

"Watch your tongue, weasel," Draco shot back. "You wouldn't know a demon if one sat on your head. I saw the three of you back there, trying to take it down with what? A hex? You're bigger morons than I thought. And considering I see each of you as quite the moron, that's saying a lot."

"What do you know?" Harry sniffed. "You were running away with your tail between your legs."

"I know better than to bother stunning a demon," said Draco, a wide smile curving his lips when a few of the girls shivered around him. "Even your halfbreed giant knew better than _that_."

"Oh, come now," Hermione broke in, disdain clean on her face. "There's no such thing as a demon, even muggles know that. It's just a word people use for things they're afraid of."

"How grand," Draco drawled, nearly purring with satisfaction. "Miss know-it-all _mudblood_ proves she's an idiot after all."

Ron started, his face flaming as red as Hermione's. "You bloody git!"

Crabbe shoved his way in front of the Slytherin group, but Draco merely stepped to the side so he could see his target. If there was one thing he loved more than getting one up on Potter, it was knowing something Granger didn't. The bookworm memorized everything she read, but she wasn't a pureblood, so she had a lot to learn about the _real_ wizarding world.

"Every pureblood with any pride in history knows demons exist," said Draco. "Of course that was a demon. Haven't you ever seen one, Potter? The last I heard, you'd even been inside the head of one, thanks to that _scar_ of yours. My family has owned several demons over the years. All purebloods have at one time or another. But I suppose a dingy mudblood wouldn't _know_ that, now would she."

"Sod off," Harry spat, rolling his eyes. "You can spout whatever you want to your cronies, but we know you're just making it up as you go along."

"What an attitude, and here I was trying to _help_. Tell me, Granger, since you know everything there is to know about everything. Where do you think the ingredients for the dark arts spells came from? Only the oldest pureblood families have the parts needed to cast those spells. _That_ is why they're called 'dark' arts. Because simpering fools like Dumbledore can't use them. As long as _they_ can't, they don't want anyone else to, either."

"You are so _full_ of it!" Ron scoffed, almost laughing at the pompous, knowing tone Draco had adopted. "You're just trying to make excuses because your father's a convicted Death Eater. I can't believe you have to gall to insult Dumbledore when your _pureblood father_ is in Azkaban. That's rich, even for you, Malfoy."

Hermione had remained silent through most of the argument, but now she bit her lip and clenched her teeth together to keep from speaking up. She was used to insults on her, but hearing that spiel against Dumbledore was too much. And Ron was right. It really was far-fetched, even for Draco. All of it was utter nonsense, except maybe the history of the creature itself…

She was glaring at Draco, so she saw when his face went white. For a second she wondered if he regretted having slandered Dumbledore like that. He was staring over her shoulder like he'd been overheard by the wrong person.

Hermione glanced back and stumbled away from the furious person behind them. Hiei's white headband was back over his forehead, but his wide red eyes were burning holes amidst a very angry face.

"_Your kind never learn_," Hiei hissed.

The boy swallowed audibly, and Hiei blinked. Behind him, the pieces he'd torn from the Abadon burst into black flame. Draco lurched back, and Hiei flitted to him, jerking on the boy's tie until they were the same height.

Tilting his head, Hiei whispered directly into the frozen boy's ear. "Keep thinking that way, and you'll make a fine Death Eater. Demon body parts for _spells_? You like that idea? Do you want to know what demons make from _human_ body parts? I'm sure your _precious Dark Lord _Voldemort would be happy to show you with the next _pet_ he sends."

The exchange lasted a few seconds at most. By the time Crabbe jolted forward to pull Hiei away, Hiei had already disappeared.

Draco stood absolutely still for a moment, blind to the wide-eyed looks he was getting from everyone, even Harry. Then he turned on his heel and almost ran to the castle, his lackeys staring after him in confusion.

After a moment of silence, the Slytherins stumbled off after their leader. Harry shook his head and turned to look back to the forest, where only a few smears of red showed evidence of the attack. The remains of the geezard were still visible, but the monster was gone.

"What _was_ that?" Ron mumbled, looking a little lost. "I mean…what _was_ that? What did that bloke _say_ to him? And did he just… Where did he go?"

"He couldn't have disapparated," Hermione said faintly. "Not on Hogwarts grounds…"

"Did he set the monster on fire?" asked Harry. "I've never seen fire like that. It didn't even touch the grass…"

"Library."

Hermione straightened her shoulders and prodded Ron to make him take his share of Neville's weight. Her eyes were gleaming with determination to straighten this entire mystery out. Today. Right now.

"We're going to the library," said Hermione. "And if Luna isn't in there, one of you is going to find her. We still have an hour of this class left. We're going to make the most of it."

"Um, Hermione…?" Harry started.

"What?" Hermione snapped. "I know you two hate the library, but we are going to get to the bottom of this, and right now the library is the best place to start. A little reading won't kill you, and if you had any sense of self-preservation you'd want to know what's going on here. Whatever this is, it's bound to lead back to _you_, Harry. It _always_ does. So there's no point complaining about it when-"

"I'm not complaining," said Harry. "I just think maybe we should drop Neville off in the infirmary first."

"Oh," said Hermione. "Right…"

.-.-

The students were filing out of the Defense class when Hiei slipped in the door, not minding that he started a few of the teens. He walked straight to Snape's desk and hopped up to sit on the edge of it. He was rewarded with backwards stares from the exiting class, and a very quiet growl from the irritated professor.

Hiei swore he could _hear_ how tightly Snape was grinding his teeth. He smirked and shot a look over at Kurama, noting the happily flicking tail that was just visible over the edge of the windowsill. The fox was seated sideways in the window, with his legs in the room, tail out. And his tail was swiping in a lazy arc as satisfied as his wide smile.

"Having fun?" Hiei taunted.

"Mm."

The last student left the room, and Snape stalked over to shut the door behind him. Then he rounded on Hiei with flashing eyes. "Get off my desk this instant!"

Lupin snorted, but quickly hid his smirk when Snape's gaze snapped over to him. Kurama let out a titter that wasn't quite loud enough to be a fullflown chuckle. And Hiei folded his legs comfortably beneath him with a _'want me to move, then move me yourself'_ challenge in his amused eyes.

"I see I don't have to ask if you had fun," Kurama commented. He was enjoying the nice breeze, namely the way it ruffled his tail and hair.

Hiei waited until Snape took a very tense seat behind him, saying without words that he wasn't going to rise to the bait. Once that opportunity for fun was passed, he hopped off the desk and went to lean near the open window.

"It was an Abadon," Hiei sniffed. "Testing the waters. He wasn't supposed to attack students, just put them in danger to get a response. Someone, I suspect that blobby ningen boy, told them there were strangers here. He didn't expect demons. I wiped his mind of that, but he will report a strong opposition of unknown variety. Give them something to worry about."

"Blobby ningen boy?" asked Kurama, a wry smirk twisting his lips. "Would that be Crabbe or Goyle?"

"Either or both."

Hiei stared at Kurama for a long minute, his expression blank. Then he frowned. Kurama grinned and gave up his seat.

"Just keeping it warm for you," Kurama teased.

With a low grumble about stupid foxes, Hiei stretched out on _his_ perch. It was the only window in the room, that made it his. Kurama was used to being closed in with human stink. He wasn't as likely as Hiei to go stir-crazy from the lack of fresh air.

Hiei nodded at Lupin, catching the man's attention. "Your pet's an idiot. Brave, but still an idiot. He used a few dozen spells on the Abadon without noticing they had no effect. But that wasn't nearly as disgusting as the behavior of the group itself."

He sent a sharp look at Kurama, not bothering to hide how disgruntled he was.

"They were attacking each other," said Hiei, "like bickering fools, mere feet from the demon, as if they didn't even see it. The giant was hit, and only three of them went to his aid. I didn't see that ningen moral thing you harp on down there at all. They were worse than oni fighting over scraps."

And that was all Kurama needed, to have Hiei use wizards as another excuse to condemn the entire human race. Kurama sighed and shifted back to his redhaired form. It just wasn't fun letting loose when he had to lecture and stand up for something his demon self had despised.

"They're human," said Kurama, "but they're still wizards, and teenagers at that. Imagine Kuwabara and Yusuke. I'm sure none of the students actually meant to hurt each other."

Lupin was sharing an almost worried look with Snape, both having come to the same conclusion. Snape grimaced and looked away, and Lupin sighed in something akin to embarrassment.

"Were they Gryffindors and Slytherins?" asked Lupin. "Harry and Draco in particular, by chance?"

"It's common behavior?" Hiei demanded, his expression exasperated.

"The two really don't mix well," Lupin admitted. "You might say the school sets them to be rivals in all things. They tend to clash when they're together..."

Snape sneered, shooting a mocking look over at Lupin. "Gryffindors are so arrogant they go out of their way to start trouble."

Lupin bristled and sent a cold look right back at him. "You can't blame the entire class because _one_ Gryffindor treated you badly when you were a student. Of all the sixth years, the Slytherin class have started each and every fight, with Draco Malfoy being the most arrogant, and you know it."

"One Gryffindor?" Snape repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Which one would that be? Are you accepting guilt or absolving yourself of it?"

"I'm not doing this again," Lupin said sharply. "Harry hasn't done anything to you. He isn't arrogant and he certainly doesn't go out of his way to start trouble. You're the one who centers on him as if you expect him to curse you when your back is turned. Just have to get the first hit in at every opportunity, don't you. You never gave him a chance to-"

"Now, boys, don't make me separate you."

Two irritated looks snapped to Kurama, and he smiled pleasantly. Hiei snorted from his place on the window sill.

"It _is_ common behavior," Hiei sniffed, rolling his eyes.

"I don't know," Kurama drawled, "they're doing much better than they were when we first came here. At times, they almost act their age. You can't be surprised that they slip now and again."

The desk creaked ominously from how tightly Snape curled his hands on the edge of it. And Lupin scowled from behind a vague flush of irritated embarrassment. He shot one look at Snape before taking a deep breath and bringing his calm smile back into place.

"Anyway," Lupin said tightly, his smile threatening to crack. "Were any of the students injured? Or Hagrid?"

"The giant said he'd be fine," said Hiei. "He dismissed the class and went to see to his wounds. The only students hurt were the ones hit by curses from each other. Your pet was a little singed from one of the Abadon's attacks, but nothing more than a light rash."

"Could you please not call him my pet?" Lupin requested, still holding his civil smile. "I know _some_ people like to refer to him that way, but he does have a name. Harry or Potter, or both if you like."

Hiei snorted. "He's your pet. Just like the other one is _his_ pet."

That last bit was given with a jerk of his head toward Snape, who promptly scowled.

Hiei continued to address Lupin, though he sent a sideways look at Snape. "At least yours protected his own. _His_ is all talk, too much talk."

He turned his head to stare at Snape and Kurama, namely Snape. "He recognized the Abadon as a demon and stated as much in front of other students."

"He would recognize it because he comes from a pureblood family. Abadon is a familiar creature." Snape's expression was dark, but his tone was notably missing the proud emphasis Draco placed on the term pureblood.

"Did he identify it in front of Harry and Hermione?" asked Lupin. "If Hermione heard that, she won't let it go until she gets herself into trouble. The only information on demons is in the restricted section, and that's only available to the leaving class."

"She heard it," said Hiei. "He made sure she heard it."

He frowned at Lupin's worried expression. Then he shook his head and pinned Snape with a sharp look. "He's going to be recruited or killed if he continues that act of his. He almost has himself convinced he believes what he says. His father hasn't contacted him, but it's only a matter of time before he does. If they use him, you lose your pet."

"He's not a pet," said Lupin.

Snape and Hiei both turned to look at him in surprise, and Lupin scowled back at them. "Neither of them are pets. I'll thank you to find another term or learn their names, Hiei."

Kurama tilted his head, an amused smile lighting up his eyes. "Hiei?"

"Fine," Hiei sniffed. "Draco. Harry. Happy now? Idiots..."

"Add in Hermione," said Kurama. "She'd be my pet if I were a teacher here."

Hiei's eyebrow twitched and he scowled out the window, grumbling in a low Makai tongue. Lupin sent a playful scowl at Kurama.

"Why did you teach him about teachers' pets, anyway?" asked Lupin.

"Oh, that wasn't me," said Kurama. "You have Snape to thank for that."

The two sent pointed looks at Snape, who glared back irritably. He didn't bother to deny it, though he'd only been talking about Harry when he'd used the term. He hadn't expected Hiei to latch onto it and turn it back on him the way he had.

"Just get on with the report before the next class starts," Snape muttered.

"That's the report," said Hiei. "It came, I dismembered it long enough to undo the spell and erase its memory of me, I rolled it deep enough into the forest that it would be hidden while it regrows its limbs, I scared the Slytherin - Draco, I said his name, stop looking at me like that - and I came back here. The Abadon will be making its way back to wherever it came from this evening. And, no, Kurama, it didn't know where it came from. Their _Dark Lord_ will catch it partway and bring it back."

"How did it get on school grounds?" asked Lupin.

"The same way the spiders did, I imagine," said Kurama. "Demons, magical creatures, it doesn't matter what you choose to call them. There are no wards keeping them out of the forest or the school. They aren't susceptible to the spells put in place to keep away your average human."

"You might want to tell the giant that," Hiei commented. "He didn't think demons could get into the forest. He lost a geezard in the attack."

Lupin's eyes widened, his expression more than a little sympathetic. "He'll blame himself if we don't tell him. I don't think any of the normal professors realize demons can come in that easily."

"You can tell him," said Hiei. "You and Kurama. You'll have to keep him clear of the forest for the full moon, anyway."

"Right," Lupin nodded, "I wasn't thinking that far ahead."

Hiei shifted a bit on the window and frowned over at Kurama. "Coffee."

Kurama blinked, raising an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"This is as bad as the tournament," Hiei shrugged. "We had it there, so they should have it here somewhere."

"I'm sure they do have coffee here," Kurama said slowly, "but...are you asking me to get you some, or telling me to?"

Hiei raised an eyebrow back at him. "Does it matter?"

A soft laugh sounded from Lupin's side of the room, and Kurama sighed.

Hiei knew where the kitchen was as much as Kurama did, but he refused to go near it on principle. Those house elves were more than Hiei could handle with a calm and non-homicidal mind. They'd decided early on that to keep Hiei from killing any of the voluntary demon slaves, Kurama would fetch whatever they wanted to eat from the kitchens. Actually, Kurama had decided it after Hiei's first run-in with an elf left the poor creature more than a little shaken.

"I guess it doesn't matter," Kurama admitted. "I just thought it would be nice if you asked."

"Be quick," Hiei smirked, "and I'll thank you when you get back."

Kurama shot a saccharine smile at Lupin. "Isn't he sweet? And they say demons are rude, mannerless brutes."

.-.-

Luna Lovegood wasn't in the library as Hermione had hoped the Ravenclaw girl would be. But Hermione kept an eye out for her, and went ahead with what she had in mind. She set Harry and Ron to skimming all of the thickest 'creature' books she knew of for the word demon. They barely protested at all, so she took that as a sign they were either wary of her determination, or were with her one hundred percent. Either way, as long as they didn't complain, she was happy with them.

As for herself, she took to creeping through the stacks and whispering accio for various imaginary titles. Books at Hogwarts were often titled exactly what their subjects concerned, so it wasn't as fruitless as a person might expect. She was working on the things Draco had claimed. Though she dismissed half of his boasting, she had an idea he might be right about demons - some sort of magical creatures that stuck up purebloods _called_ demons. She was sure they weren't anything like the religious demons muggles talked about.

She went through a number of titles with the word demon in them, history of demons, demon relations, demon lore, demon superstitions, uses for demon skin - then onto things that might concern these 'demons' without calling them that, dark magic ingredients, evil magical creatures. It wasn't until she tried pureblood pets that a book floated over to her hand.

It was a very tall book, with a fancy script for the title. A glance through the thick pages found it to be more of a picture gallery than an actual text. There was an entire section of snakes and lizards, amphibians and the like. Then there were felines, one so large she was sure it was actually a baby panther. The rats made her grimace - bad memories - and she barely thumbed through the section on birds.

She smiled when she found a bright picture of a fairly familiar phoenix, Dumbledore being listed as the owner. And there was a rather interesting parrot with bright blue and green feathers and an unusually intelligent face. If she didn't know better, she'd swear it was sticking its tongue out at the camera. The name of the owner wasn't familiar, so she thumbed past it.

She found herself left with the miscellaneous section, which appeared to be filled with everything from miniature horses to strange dragonish creatures. One of them was photographed sitting on a person's shoulder, though the owner's face was not in the shot. It reminded her of a goblin, like the ones at Gringotts. But it had small leathery wings, and it wasn't squat so much as tiny. It really looked more like a miniature person than a thick-limbed goblin.

One glance at the name of the creature and she was hurrying over to show her find to the boys. Harry and Ron were happy enough to stop thumbing through pages they just knew didn't have the information they were looking for. They crowded behind Hermione and got close enough so she wouldn't be heard by the few other students spotting the library.

"A demon imp," said Hermione. "The owner was Merideth Tasslewood. It says these imps were once used as servants and spies among old pureblood families because they were more intelligent than owls when it came to transporting confidential messages. Only, they were inclined toward malice, so they couldn't be held by a geis of servitude the way house elves were. They were...outlawed."

She blinked wide eyes up at Harry, wondering if he were as confused as she was. The imp was so small and harmless looking, she couldn't imagine it being a threat to anyone.

"It says the species was...they killed them! It says the species was eliminated during the last Transit. Transit...I think they mean an event of some kind. But there wasn't any mention of a Transit in Hogwarts a History. That's one of the oldest books I've read..."

"Do you think it's something older than Hogwarts?" asked Ron.

"I suppose it could be," Hermione admitted. "I'll look for something on this Transit. If they actually outlawed and killed an entire species - the only species of 'demon' we've seen in a book - it would have to have been a very important event."

"Does that mean we have to keep scanning these?" Ron asked Harry, scowling at the book in front of him.

"Guess so..."

Hermione's eyes flew over the books, possible titles springing to mind, the great transit, transitions throughout the ages, demon transit, demon transitionals, a guide to demon transitions-

The last one brought a loud 'eh-hem' from the librarian as a thick book peaked out of the restricted section. Hermione had one glimpse of its red title before it obediently ducked itself back into place. She blushed at the suspicious look the librarian was giving her, and hurried over to sit between her confidantes.

"I found one," she said slowly. "It looks like there's another book for us to check out...after hours."

"And run into that three-eyed psycho again?" Ron demanded. "Absolutely not!"

"Then I'll go by myself."

"We're not following you again," Harry warned.

"And I didn't ask you to follow me this time any more than I asked you to follow me the last time," Hermione sniffed. "I'll go by myself."

"No, you bloody well won't," said Ron. "Did you see what he did to that monster? Tore it to pieces, he did! And he scared off Malfoy with nothing but words. Do you really think you're going to talk your way out of it if he catches you again?"

"You can't stop me," Hermione said calmly, her attitude completely rational.

"Actually," Harry spoke up, "we probably could. The question is, are you going to make us? Let it go for a day or two, Hermione. Lupin said we could talk to him in private as soon as he starts teaching. And you were going to see if Luna could tell you anything, right? See if we can figure it out ourselves first. If we can't, then we can consider a way to get your book for you."

"That sounds reasonable, doesn't it?" Ron piped in. "Nice and cooperative like."

Hermione's face remained in a stubborn frown, but she didn't argue. She simply stood and picked up the books to return to the shelves. The boys exchanged a quick look and helped.

"What did you want to see Loony about, anyway?" asked Ron.

"Must you call her that?" Hermione demanded. "You could at least be nice when I'm trying to get help from her."

"Miss Lovegood," Ron said sarcastically. "What do you want to see her about?"

"You'd just make fun of it if I told you," said Hermione.

Ron sighed, his shoulders slumping. Sometimes he really hated that part of him that scurried around trying to placate the girl. What happened to those days when he and Harry had simply made fun of her and insulted her so she'd go away and leave them out of her 'study' plans? She'd gone and grown on him when he wasn't looking.

"I won't make fun," he promised.

"It's probably nothing," Hermione started, "but I was thinking about the way that stranger looked with his forehead glowing like that. It reminded me of this-"

She set the stack of books down and pulled out a parchment so she could sketch on it. A few strokes and she'd drawn something that did resemble the stranger - spade-shaped face, large cat-like eyes, and a third eye in the middle of his forehead. The only difference was that she hadn't drawn any hair.

Ron raised an eyebrow at Harry. "Am I missing something?"

"I don't know," Harry shrugged. "It's funny looking, but I don't think that's the point."

"It's an alien. Did you see that alien, Hermione?"

Hermione jumped around, her eyes gleaming as bright as her wide smile. "Luna! Just the person I was hoping to see here! It does look rather like the aliens muggles report, doesn't it?"

"Of course," Luna said, her face set in a dreamy, distant sort of smile. "Most people see the same face when they see an alien. Father says it's because there is actually only one, he just gets around very quickly so the sightings turn up in the oddest places. But he hasn't been seen in almost a year. The last time his sketch found its way into a paper, it was in a muggle tabloid. And he has hair, Hermione. I'm not sure why people keep drawing him without it. Like this-"

Ron's lips twitched when the girl made an amusing depiction of the stranger's flame-styled hair. She even went so far as to leave the blank spots for that white starburst over his forehead. He sent Luna a suspicious smirk.

"You've seen him in Defense," he accused. "You're just having fun with Hermione because she's being unreasonably gullible today."

"Of course I've seen him in Defense," Luna smiled, "Kurama introduced us. His name is Hiei, and he has a very nice voice for an alien. And, yes, I was having fun with Hermione. It's so nice to see that she isn't the skeptic I thought she was."

The blonde girl gave Hermione a sleepy wink, patting a hand on her shoulder. Then she turned and drifted across the library to a table of Ravenclaws. Hermione could almost feel the drop of sweat break out on her temple.

"An alien named Hiei," Ron drawled. "And your newest crush introduced her to him."

His face twitched for a long minute before he broke into laughter. The librarian sent them a venomous glare, and he muffled his laughs in his hand. Hermione flushed bright red and clenched her hand so she wouldn't give in and brain him upside the head.

"Oh, _do_ be quiet," Hermione growled, swiping up the books. "I knew I shouldn't have asked her. Just because Kurama's Japanese, that doesn't mean the other stranger would be named after a Japanese mountain. You'd think she'd make up a better story than that, with all the practice she's had. I don't know what I was thinking. Aliens! Honestly..."

Harry and Ron were in bright moods when they followed the fuming girl out of the library. Hermione was embarrassed at herself now. That meant she wasn't in any mental condition to go gallivanting off after a restricted book. Instead, she'd spend the next day or two being quiet and hoping they'd forget all about the incident. For all her bluffing, Hermione was very self conscious about her intelligence. Right now, she felt like an idiot.

Since they'd gotten out of Care of Magical Creatures early, the break was much longer than it should have been. But they still had History of Magic to attend before dinner. That managed to dampen the boys' spirits quite a bit. Staying awake during one of Professor Binns' classes was always a chore. Only those who took constant notes - namely Hermione - managed to pay any attention to the droning ghost who was their professor.

They took their seats and resigned themselves to a very long boring monotone for the next hour. But the moment their professor floated in through the front wall, Hermione's hand shot into the air.

Professor Binns noticed it only because he remembered Hermione as the only student to ever ask a question in his class since...well, as long as he could remember. He blinked at her. "Yes, Miss Gerber?"

Hermione's eyebrow twitched, but she knew better than to correct him. He'd just forget again.

"I was wondering," said Hermione, "if you know when the last Transit took place."

The professor tilted his head, his faint ghostly expression an echo of confusion. "Transit? Transition into what exactly?"

"I was reading a book on wizard pets," Hermione explained, "and I was wondering when the demon imps were eliminated. The book said it was during the last Transit."

"Ah," Binns nodded, his essence lighting up fractionally. "The Transitoriums. Yes, I know when the last one of _those_ took place. But that's really far too advanced for this class. You'll have to wait until you leave school and apply as an auror if you want to study ancient history, Miss Gerber. My lectures don't go that far back. I'm not quite _that_ old."

With that, the professor seemed to forget the question altogether, his voice softening into that dull monotone he was so well known for. Hermione humphed quietly, her arms folded over her chest. It had been worth a shot.

Now she was even more curious than ever. And the history was only available to potential aurors? What part of wizarding history would be restricted to aurors?

She made up her mind to mention it to Lupin the first chance she got - namely the first time she could get him alone without Snape listening in. Hopefully Lupin would be teaching his own class by the end of the week.

The rest of the class passed in something of a blur. Hermione was too deep in the mystery to bother with notes - and she'd already done the reading, so Professor Binns wasn't really telling her anything she didn't already know.

She took notes of the unknowns instead - Kurama having an animal form that was a miniature of some youko creature, his being named after one of the creatures, demon pets, Malfoy claiming dark spells had originated from demon body parts, two people who didn't show on the map, Shuuichi Minamino - who no one at the school had seen so far, the stranger's third glowing eye that he must have kept hidden under that headband of his, the fact that he'd shown up out of nowhere on the yard and disappeared just as quickly - when apparating was clearly impossible at Hogwarts, that strange black flame that he must have set - but without a wand because she'd been watching his hands and he hadn't been holding anything, Luna's ridiculous claim that he was an alien named after Mt Hiei...

None of it added up. She couldn't rationalize any of it. To her, that meant she simply wasn't thinking hard enough. The truth was something real and tangible, and any rational person could figure out the truth if she just thought it out hard enough.

_'But it doesn't make any rational sense at all...!'_

By the time dinner rolled around, the entire Gryffindor table was awash with the recent rumors circulating the school. Hermione didn't pay much attention until she caught someone repeating Malfoy's claim that dark wizards were persecuted because other wizards lacked the ingredients to do the spells. She sniffed in disgust at the first year boy who was spouting the nonsense, but didn't bother to correct him. Half the table was quick to tell him not to believe anything the Slytherins said, especially if it made them look good.

"You hear that, Hermione?"

Ron elbowed her in the side, frowning a bit when she glared at him. "What's with you? Don't you want to hear about that youko?"

"Youko?" Hermione straightened, her eyes wide. "What?"

"Tell her, Colin," Ron urged the younger boy seated across from them.

"I didn't actually see it myself," the boy said quickly, his eyes glowing when he saw Harry - his idol - watching him. "Rumor has it that redhaired guy in Defense class turned into someone else. Right in front of the Ravenclaws and the Hufflepuffs! He was really tall and had cat ears and a bushy tail - but his face and body were just like a man's! Isn't it crazy?"

"That's not what happened," Seamus snorted. "I heard from Cho that the redhead and that Slytherin guy both jumped out the window during class. Then some albino guy jumped in and made the room glow red. They just moved so fast it _looked_ like the redhead turned into the other one."

Colin frowned stubbornly and shook his head. "Neville told me the redhead was a cat animagus - and a silver one, too! So it makes more sense if he turned into a silver human cat-guy."

"You little ditz," Seamus grinned, patting the boy on the shoulder. "It was a fox, not a cat. And yeah, he did turn into a fox - or rather, he changed from a fox into his normal self. That still doesn't mean he could just change into a fox-person. Cho said the redhead wasn't even holding a wand when he moved to the window. There's no way he could cast a spell on himself so quick no one in the room would see him do it. And even if he could, why would he want to give himself a fox tail?"

"Who cares about some tailed person?" Lavender blurted, her expression tragic, yet somehow put out that no one was listening. "Did you see what that awful Goyle did to Parvati and me? We could have been killed! It's just like Professor Trelawney predicted...! The trauma done to us will scar us for life and we'll never-"

Hermione blocked the girl out completely, that sane part of her mind simply closing the door on any and all talk of the school's biggest fake. Trelawney predicted a monster would jump out and eat their class project, while a House war broke out within a few feet of the thing? Right.

She turned to focus on Seamus again, but the boy was now listening to Parvati and Lavender with an amused look on his face. That only left Colin...

Hermione sighed and leaned closer to the table so she could smile at the sweet, if somewhat ditzy, boy. "What else did you hear about this stranger?"

"Well," Colin started happily, "Ernie said the fourth years were all wild about how he said something to Professor Snape that no one understood. He had his own language! Then he climbed on Professor Lupin's chair and tried to bite him so the Hufflepuffs jumped up and hexed him with every-"

"What are you babbling on about?" Seamus interrupted, laughing at Colin's excited expression. "That didn't happen."

"Yes it did," Colin argued. "Ernie told me so!"

"He's just having fun with you," said Seamus. He shook his head at Hermione. "He did say something strange to Snape, but Cho said the Ravenclaws were sure it was Japanese or Chinese. They couldn't remember what he'd said, though, so Cho couldn't translate it. But after that, he just sat down beside Lupin and that was it. They had class. The little stranger must have gone back there after he finished that monster off. They said he slipped in just as they were going out."

"And the person with the fox tail?" Hermione prodded.

"He was still there when they left," Seamus shrugged. "The redhead didn't come back."

Ron tilted his head to the side, giving Hermione a speculative look. "Think the fox guy's the one in the book? Or the third one?"

"I'm not sure," Hermione admitted, her voice quiet now that Seamus had gone back to listening to Parvati and Lavender milk the sympathy of their Housemates. "If it's Shuuichi, then that really makes no sense that a magical creature - a youko with humanoid form - would show on the map when the dark stranger doesn't show up, and Kurama doesn't either."

"But Kurama's the youko, right?" asked Harry. "Maybe he did change into that other form. And he just goes by the wrong name. The map shows a real name, not an alias. So maybe Kurama's his alias."

"It's impossible," said Hermione. "Kurama can't be a day over twenty, and that youko in the book was at least five _hundred_ years old. And it didn't say anything about youko's having _two_ human forms."

"So what does that leave?" asked Ron.

Hermione dropped her chin into her hands, her expression hopeless. "I don't know, Ron. I honestly don't know. It doesn't make sense. It can't be true if it doesn't make sense..."

.-.-  
TBC

Next up, Hiei and Kurama torture Snape, and Harry has a bad dream. o.O


	7. Cursed Scars, Harry Dreams

_Category:_ Harry Potter-YYH crossover  
_Warnings:_ spoilers for book 5, **lots of dialogue  
**_Author:_ Arigatomina  
_Email:_ arigatoumina (a) hotmail . com  
_Website:_ www . geocities . com / arigatomina

**Higher Learning**

_Part 7: Cursed Scars; Harry Dreams_

Kurama smiled as he took another sip from the steaming mug. Watchful eyes were locked on him, so he was careful not to grimace.

"It's sweeter than I expected," he admitted. "I thought it would be tart."

"Too much time spent with Dumbledore," Lupin smirked. "He has a definite sweet tooth. You get used to it after a while."

"At least it's not pumpkin juice," said Kurama. "I was surprised to learn that wizards drink so much of that here. I didn't know you separated yourselves from normal human society to such an extent. Black tea is supposed to be an English tradition."

"Some of the professors do drink it regularly," said Lupin. "Don't hold me to this, but I suspect pumpkin juice is particular to Hogwarts. Few of the wizarding families I've seen drink it so much. And I understand western witches are quite fond of apple cider, though the adults usually drink coffee as their beverage of choice."

Kurama nodded at that, venturing another sip over the overly sweet tea. "It would be interesting to learn how the traditions came about. I find it curious that there are no Asian covens affiliated with your Ministry of Magic."

"They were kicked out over eighty years ago," said Snape.

The two glanced over to where Hiei and Snape were seated at the little table across the room from them. Hiei glowered at the interruption.

"I knew you weren't trying," Hiei spat. "Stop paying attention to them."

"We can go in the other room," Lupin said quickly, "if we're disturbing you."

"Maa, maa," Kurama said slowly, waving a hand at Lupin. "We don't want to miss anything."

Snape bristled and snapped over to glare heatedly at Hiei. "I am fully capable of doing two things at once, providing they are both things in my ability to do. I've already told you I get nothing from this. It's a waste of time."

"And yet you can read any human in this school," Hiei mocked. "You're not trying hard enough."

Snape let out an odd, hissing growl, his glare darkening until his eyes were mere slits. "I know my limits."

"And they are?" Hiei prodded.

"I get nothing from you," Snape said sharply. "Even the Dark Lord gives a well of death when I look into his eyes. You give nothing. I can't pierce your barrier. It isn't a matter of finding lies and truths. There's nothing at all."

"There's everything," Hiei countered. "Read Kurama."

Kurama's eyes widened when Snape turned to glare over at him. For a moment he wasn't sure what Hiei expected from him. Then he relaxed and returned Snape's stare, his lips twitching into a slow smile.

"He agrees with me," Snape said, his voice directed at Hiei. "He finds your tenacity pointless."

Hiei stood and moved to stand next to the black-haired wizard. "Does he? Or is he lying to you? Look harder. Forget that he's a demon and look the way you would with one of the students."

Snape jerked his eyes away, glaring at Hiei. "Forget he's a demon? The entire point is that you're demons. The only reason I can read him at all is because his human body allows me entrance."

"And his mind?" Hiei pushed.

The man fell silent, his jaw closed in a stubborn line. Hiei felt a twitch pull at his eyebrow, but he held back his need to growl. He imagined this was as difficult as educating an idiot like Kuwabara. Why did he have to be the one doing it?

"My mind," Kurama called, his tone far too pleasant for either Snape or Hiei's patience to tolerate, "allows you to read only what I want you to read. I don't find Hiei's tenacity pointless, I find it amusing. You read the lie because that was what I wanted you to read."

"It's no different from your spell," Hiei said to Snape. "How can a demon use a spell? Without so much as a wand? It isn't magic. It doesn't require thought or words or waving a stick around. It's instinct. Use your instinct."

It was disturbing to see how tightly Snape was holding himself, his frustration and anger mixing to a tangible level. As difficult as it was for him to admit failure, he'd been open about it from the beginning. Hiei simply wouldn't accept that.

"You have to understand," Lupin said quietly. "What you're saying goes against everything wizards are raised to believe. Magic does exist in the person, this instinct, the potential, but it is drawn and harnessed through spells. Very few wizards can do any bit of wandless magic. Most instances happen by chance or accident."

Kurama shook his head, distracting Lupin from the silent battle of wills across the room from them. "He's been using this spell, this occlumency, for years. Dumbledore claims he is the best wizard he's found when it comes to this skill. He has to know he's using his energy to do it. All we want is for him to acknowledge that and use it to its full extent."

Lupin opened his mouth to correct Kurama, but Snape beat him to it.

"They are two entirely different spells," Snape spat. "Reading and guarding against invasions are not the same. I never claimed to be an expert in Legilimency."

"Especially without a wand," Lupin put in. "To get past someone who blocks his mind, you need more than simple eye contact."

"No one is using a wand on me," Hiei snapped.

"Then I'm not reading you," Snape snapped back.

"Is this even necessary?" Lupin asked Kurama. "If Hiei can get past Severus' defense, that's all that matters."

Kurama shrugged and made himself comfortable on the couch. He could have explained the ethics, but he didn't feel like having Hiei angry with him for the rest of the month. Besides that, someone as sympathetic and…decent…as Lupin should have been able to figure it out on his own. Hiei wouldn't dig into Snape's mind without giving him a chance to do the same.

Hiei and Snape were still glaring at each other, but it was impossible to tell if Snape was trying to read, or just expressing his anger. Kurama sighed at the two of them.

"Why don't you try making eye contact with the jagan," Kurama suggested.

Hiei twitched, a very disgruntled look passing over his face. Snape raised an eyebrow at him.

A slow smile drew over Kurama's face, and he almost winked at Lupin. Hiei was very quick and a borderline genius when it came to most things. But even he missed the obvious at times.

Hiei jerked the band off his jagan to reveal a calm, dark blue pupil. The two men went back to staring at each other, this time with Snape peering into the third eye.

"So," Kurama said to Lupin. "What's this about Asian wizards being kicked out eighty years ago?"

"I'm not sure," Lupin admitted. "I know the Ministry doesn't approve of them. It may have to do with groups like yours, wizards dealing directly with demons. I didn't know the rumors were true. No one really speaks of the happenings in that part of the world."

"Ah, so that's it. I wondered why I never saw any of the typical wizarding wards during my years as Shuuichi. We don't consider them wizards in Japan. Most youths learn to harness their energy in temples, and no one uses wands."

"So there's a lot of this instinctive magic there?" asked Lupin.

"I wouldn't say a lot, but there are a good number of humans with sufficient reiki to perform well at a school like this one. Some channel their energy through weapons that are similar enough to your wands. But very few perform the sort of everyday magic that goes on here. They don't separate themselves from humans the way typical wizards do, so they've no need to rely on magic for everything."

"And that's why you wanted the lamp," Lupin smirked, glancing over at the object in question. "You're lucky Arthur likes to dabble in muggle electronics. Normal muggle devices don't function properly on Hogwarts grounds."

"He was quite kind to have given me something from his private stash," Kurama agreed cheekily. "I got the impression he didn't like me very much, so I was surprised at his offer."

"He's really a very nice man," Lupin said seriously. "He just hasn't done much field work as an auror. I suspect you and Hiei were the first demons he's ever been in contact with, so he wouldn't know how to react to you."

"He asked about you," said Kurama.

"Did he? I should expect a visit from him, then. Molly is probably worried sick about me."

Kurama grinned and nodded. "That's exactly what he said."

"How…how old _are_ you!"

Kurama and Lupin jerked a little, turning to stare over at Snape. The wizard was leaning back in his chair, his face pale and dotted with sweat.

"Don't ask that question," Kurama said quickly, wincing a little at Hiei's dark expression.

Hiei ignored that, an evil but smug smirk curving his lips. "I told you that you could read me."

Snape shuddered, his hands curling into claws. "I'm never doing that again!"

"Like I'd invite you to," Hiei snorted, rolling his eyes. "What did you expect to see in a demon's mind?"

"Don't answer that," said Kurama.

Hiei twitched and sent a glower at the redhead. "Will you stay out of this?"

"I just don't want the two of you to launch into another bickering session," Kurama frowned. "We have work to do."

"I never…bicker," Hiei glared.

"Right," Kurama nodded, "you just poke and prod till he snaps back."

"Are you going to begin now, then?" asked Lupin.

Hiei scowled a moment longer, not quite ready to get over Kurama's accusation that he 'bickered.' That was a word better matched to Kuwabara and Yusuke, or even better, Yusuke and that controlling female of his. But they did have quite a bit to accomplish, and only eight hours to do it in. If it took any longer than that, they'd be hard pressed to get Snape to the infirmary before the students were up and about.

"I'll begin now," Hiei said, warning Snape more than anyone. "If you want to cast a spell on yourself, do it before I start."

Lupin almost bolted from his seat, driven by the accusing glare Snape shot in his direction. As curious as he was to see exactly what Kurama and Hiei had planned, he didn't want to add insult to injury by watching.

"I'll leave you three to your work," he said quickly.

Kurama nodded to the man as Lupin disappeared into the other room. He pulled a chair over so he could sit beside Snape, his hand delving to pull a seed from his hair. Hiei was standing in front of the wizard's chair, putting the two at eye level.

Snape glared at the two of them and cast a quick silencing charm on himself. Hiei smirked in reaction, following his glare at the doorway.

"You think he'll spy on you?" Hiei asked slowly, his eyes glinting with amusement.

"He won't," Kurama promised. "But I can ward the door if you like."

He received a very nasty glare for that offer. With a light shrug, Kurama dropped his eyes to the miniature plant he was cultivating in his palm. "The physical pain will be minimum, but we don't want to make you any more uncomfortable than necessary. You were the one who decided it should be done tonight. If we'd waited another day, you could have had more privacy."

Hiei's jagan pulsed with a pale green light, his voice soft and monotone. "Leave it, Kurama. He can't hear you anymore. And he was right. Now that they've made the first move, we need to sever their hold over him. There's no point guarding him if he can be compelled to take his own life through that mark."

"I didn't know it had that much power over him," Kurama blinked, glancing at Hiei. "He said it only passed suggestions and urges."

"He can't see inside it," said Hiei. "It's connected into everything…very well crafted…"

Kurama winced a little at the interest that rode Hiei's voice. If Hiei considered the curse worthy of respect, then it was nothing to underestimate.

He focused his eyes and hands on the little plant curling between his fingers. He was petting its smooth head and conning it to keep its mouth closed so none of the acid would drip onto his skin. It wasn't going to age beyond an infant, so its intelligence was limited. But that made it easier to gain obedience. He wouldn't force it to help him, he'd encourage it to.

A twitch passed over Snape's hand, and Kurama let his gaze move to the two of them. He rarely had a chance to watch Hiei do this sort of work. There really wasn't much to see aside from the glow of youki being channeled through the jagan and into Snape's wide, vacant eyes. But Hiei's expression was concentrated, determined. And a little irritated…?

Kurama ducked his head with a quick grin. As he'd suspected, Snape wasn't cooperating. The wizard had chosen to allow Hiei and him to remove the mark's curse, had named the time if not the place. But now that Hiei was actually working his way inside his mind, Snape's instincts were to fight back. That was the skill they'd tried to explain to him earlier.

Whatever the wizards chose to call it, occlumency was a survivor's instinct. It didn't require the use of a wand to channel the energy into a spell because it wasn't a spell. The energy never left the body. It was more a kekkai than anything so cute as a spell. It was a mental block formed of a person's energy that protected his sense of self from any outside invasion. If it had been a normal spell, Snape never would have been able to use it while working as a spy. The entire point was that he could instinctively protect his thoughts while appearing to have his mind open and honest.

So why hadn't that ability prevented the mark from having such a tight hold on him?

Kurama really didn't understand what sort of curse the mark represented, and he reminded himself to ask Hiei for details later. If it were complex enough to be woven around Snape's mind – into everything, as Hiei had put it – then it sounded more like brainwashing than a simple trigger.

That was the spell, Kurama decided, his eyes shifting over to the dark tattoo on Snape's forearm. It would take a while for Hiei to undo the non-physical bind, but the physical mark itself was the real catalyst. That symbol, burned or perhaps even woven into the man's skin, was what identified him and let the control in through his instinctive defenses. Kurama had seen it react twice since he and Hiei had volunteered for this assignment. There was a burning glow over it, followed by searing pain. Snape had explained it flatly as the result of Voldemort summoning his Death Eaters. The mark connected them all like brands on cattle.

_'How crude,'_ Kurama thought. _'And very foolish for a cynical man. He should have feared we would use it to strike back at him. No real dark practitioner would expect us to keep the spy alive when we could use him to gain an advantage over the enemy. A simple cut would take the arm off. With their magic, they could probably regrow it, or at least create a prosthetic limb. Why is Voldemort so confident we won't harm him? He must know...whatever personal importance Snape is to Dumbledore. I want to know what he knows.'_

Another twitch set up on the arm next to him, drawing Kurama's gaze and the curious attention of his plant. Snape's fingers had curled down to clutch the arm of the chair, and they didn't let go. A glance found Hiei's mouth pulled into a terse frown. Kurama shifted in his seat, prepping the little plant with a few tickling brushes near its pointed mouth. As soon as Hiei reached up to hold Snape's wrists, he'd start his own work.

Destroying the mental connection wasn't enough. They had to get rid of the physical link as well. It wouldn't be pretty. Whether it was burned or woven, the mark was a ward literally carved into Snape's flesh. It couldn't be removed without destroying the flesh along with it.

It made Kurama wonder how many Death Eaters had tried to break the tie by digging the mark out. Without a way to break the spell itself, he was certain they'd gone insane. No one made a curse without a fail-safe mechanism. Someone as powerful as Voldemort wouldn't be so sloppy.

_'And that's where you come in,'_ Kurama murmured to the seedling, communicating through a combination of touches and energy. _'You can smell the one who cast this. It seeps down into the flesh. Don't leave a drop of it. If you hit metal or find no more of this scent, cry for me and I'll get you out. Don't dig back the way you went in. You don't want anything that doesn't have that scent. It's not good enough for you. You deserve better than petty wizard flesh.'_

A smug little clitter of razor jaws answered the praise, earning a smirk from Kurama. He didn't just control plants, he earned their loyalty. It helped that his plants were often just as conceited as any youko.

"Kurama."

With a quick grimace at Snape's closed eyes, Kurama urged his plant to rise on his palm. Hiei wasn't holding the man down yet, but he must have finished the majority of his mental efforts. He wouldn't need to maintain eye contact to crush any fail-safe Kurama's plant set off once it began devouring the dark mark. It was unfortunate Snape had to be conscious during it, but his reactions would lead Hiei to whatever hidden impulse remained.

"There's always a fail-safe..." Kurama sighed.

"There is," said Hiei, "but I can't undo it unless it's active. Don't make him wait, Kurama. It's...cruel."

"Ah..."

.-.-

Harry's first coherent thought was to wonder how and why he'd gotten on the floor, bent so that he was doubled over almost entirely _beneath_ his bed. His back hurt from the strange position, his ears were numb from the noise, and his head was burning red behind his eyes. He swallowed the coppery taste in his mouth and squirmed free, his dazed eyes half blind in the dim room.

"Don't hit me, okay?"

The words were given in a hushed whisper that brought flashes to his mind, whimpers that swelled into muffled screams, the brittle yet damp sound of an arm being ripped free, sizzling scorched flesh and a ranting fury that made him throw his hands up in front of him. He clutched at his burning forehead, barely aware of the quick scuffling as Ron got away from him.

"It's not over yet?" Ron ventured, his voice even smaller than before. "Should I get someone? You won't...hurt anyone if I go, will you? Harry?"

He recognized his friend, as well as his location, but his mind was swarmed with scenes and sounds, even smells that he couldn't place. Some he was certain came from a dream. Ron must have woken him up in the middle of it. But the thoughts, those were current. He could hear what Voldemort was thinking, the venomous sound of his voice issuing orders to whimpering followers. And he was so disoriented he couldn't focus on anything beyond the heat radiating from his scar...and the sound of his best friend asking him if he'd hurt the others.

"Ron...?"

An almost dramatically relieved sigh answered him, Ron scooting a bit closer to peer down at his face. The reddish orange hair was blurry in the darkness, only dim spots telling him where Ron's eyes were. Harry scrubbed a hand over his eyes and reached up to fumble for his glasses.

"Here," Ron said quickly, fetching the item. "You really had me scared this time, Harry. I thought you were going to use an Unforgivable on me...!"

That broke through Harry's daze like a fist to the stomach. He choked and almost broke his glasses in his fist. "What! Why would you think I would-"

"You said cru," Ron blurted, his voice softening again. "Before I got your wand away, you said cru - and I took it before you could finish. You tell me if there's another spell that starts like that, because I don't know of any. Maybe Hermione would, but you and me, the only spell that starts like that is-"

"It wasn't me," Harry said quickly, his voice wavering a bit. "I must have been doing what I saw in the dream. But...why did I have my wand?"

"Don't ask me," said Ron. "I woke up because you were thrashing around and mumbling stuff. Whatever it was, you sounded really angry. I thought it was another of your dreams so I was going to wake you up, but the moment I touched you it was like you went nuts on me! Nearly poked my eye out with your wand, probably gave me a nice shiner, too. I haven't looked yet. When did you learn to hit so hard, anyway? All I know is that must have been one awful dream, and you're not sleeping anywhere near your wand, not when I'm in the bed next to yours. You couldn't pay me enough to try waking you up like that again."

Harry stared for a long minute, just processing his friend's heated words. Then he blinked and straightened his glasses, rubbing his thumb over the scar on his forehead. "Ron, I'm really sorry. I could swear I put my wand with my books at the end of my bed. I don't know how it could have gotten in my hand while I was sleeping. And if I...if I really tried to cast crucio on you...I..."

"You must have accio'd it," said Ron. He blinked at the scowl Harry sent him. "Your wand, I mean. It must be nice to have your magic down so well you can do stuff like that without waking up. Then again, if you go attacking your friends, it can't be too nice. I don't know, Harry. That was a hell of a thing to wake up to."

Harry hadn't really expected his apology to be enough, but he had thought Ron would at least listen to it. Now he rubbed a tired hand on his forehead and pushed himself off the floor. "I should see Dumbledore...before I forget what I dreamed. Only...I don't really remember much of it."

"Tell me what you remember on the way," Ron volunteered. "That'll keep it fresh, and I'm going to head over to the infirmary and get something for my face, anyway. A real shiner wouldn't be a bad thing, but I don't want anyone hearing I got it from you. That's just embarrassing."

"I could beat you in a duel any day," Harry scowled.

"Sure," Ron smirked, "but I have a lot of brothers. I could have you crying in your robes before you even found your wand."

Harry rolled his eyes, grateful for the change of tone, but not buying Ron's boasting a bit. "Speaking of that, where _is_ my wand?"

Ron stopped a few feet from the beds, his hands twitching at his sides. Harry was immediately suspicious and a little uneasy that the boy didn't look back at him.

"Ron, what did you do with my wand?"

"Er..."

"Ron...!"

"We can find it later," Ron blurted, turning back to catch Harry's shoulders and propelling him toward the door. "I knocked it over that way, so it's probably in bed with Neville at the moment. Don't want to go disturbing him, now do we? Come on, Harry. Have to keep your dream fresh and all."

"I'll accio it, then," Harry scowled. "If I can do it while I'm asleep, I can do it now."

"No time for that," Ron said quickly, pushing harder on Harry's back. "Tell me about your dream. As bad as it looked, I'd think you-know-who was torturing someone."

"He was," Harry admitted, forgetting his wand as he let himself be directed out of the room. "And then he wasn't. I really don't know what he was doing..."

"Well, what did you see?"

"They brought someone in to him, one of his own people. And they, well, I think they tore his arm off. It was wet and brittle at the same time...weird that, the sound it made..."

Ron shivered and shot a disgusted look at Harry's dreamy expression. "You sure you weren't dreaming about that guy and what he did to that monster?"

"I'm sure," Harry said, shaking his head. "That was why it was so weird. I thought it would sound...sucking like. But this was brittle, wet and all, but like the bone came right out of the socket. I guess that monster didn't have joints like we do..."

"That is really gross," said Ron. "You know that, right?"

"Then he did something to it," Harry continued, frowning a little as he caught glimpses of what he'd seen. "They took the man away where I couldn't see him, but he kept it and did something to it. I don't know what he did, some spell, but he didn't say anything..."

"It...? What's it?"

"The arm," Harry scowled. "Weren't you listening? He had them tear it off for him so he could do something to it. Whatever he did, it hurt all of them. But it must not have worked, because he was even angrier afterward. He started doing it more just to make them scream, and one of them...I think he cast crucio on Malfoy..."

"What?" Ron barked, his eyes wide. "What was _he_ doing there?"

"Not Draco," said Harry, "I mean his father."

"I sort of gathered that much," Ron snorted. "But Malfoy's in Azkaban with the rest of them. You weren't dreaming about the prison, were you?"

"Definitely not. It was a dark place, cold, but I'm sure it wasn't a prison. I think it was more like a basement. Voldemort-"

Harry sighed and waited for Ron to get done shivering and glaring at him. "He...was sitting in that same chair I saw him in last year. Wherever he is, he must have taken it with him. Unless it's like Dumbledore's and he creates it himself. That's probably it..."

"So what you're telling me is that you saw him, with his Death Eaters, including that git Malfoy, outside of Azkaban. Right?"

A slow, slightly confused nod answered him. Ron abruptly sped up, almost shoving Harry down the hall. Harry stumbled before breaking into an unsteady jog.

"What's with you?" asked Harry.

"Don't you get it?" Ron blurted. "They're out of Azkaban! They broke out, and you have proof of it. I don't know why he'd want to play with the arm of one of his Death Eaters, but if they're out, you have to tell Dumbledore about it right now!"

"There was something else," said Harry. "I'm sure of it, something important..."

"Don't tell me, tell Dumbledore. You know I'm as curious as the next, but now's not the time for that. Blimey, just wait till the Ministry hears this. If Fudge thought them breaking into the Ministry was bad, you can bet he'll be tearing his hair out when he knows they got out of Azkaban, too. And here I thought this year was going to be dull."

"Sirius."

Harry froze in place, and Ron jolted, almost pulling them both over. Neither of them had mentioned that name since they'd parted at the end of the last school term. It was an unspoken agreement that had started with vague references in their letters that summer and had turned into outright avoidance of the subject.

"What?" asked Ron.

"It was Sirius," Harry whispered, his gaze distant. "A picture of him, in his Gryffindor robes. He was holding a book, but he was...threatening, like he knew Voldemort was the one looking at the picture. Why would Voldemort have such an old picture of him?"

Ron choked a little, fighting back his instinctive shudders at that name. "I don't know, Harry. Whatever the reason, it can't be anything good. Let's get you to Dumbledore, okay?"

"He's already killed him," Harry continued, his voice wavering as it rose. "What does he think he's going to do when Sirius is dead? You can't hurt the dead. He can't do anything to someone who's-"

"Right," Ron said quickly, "he can't do a blasted thing. You know that and he knows that. Don't let him get to you. You'll tell Dumbledore what you saw and he'll-"

"I'll handle everything as smoothly as I always do," Dumbledore said slowly, with an amused inflection in his tone.

Ron flinched, a heated blush swamping over his face. Harry was slower to react, and far less embarrassed to find their headmaster standing behind them in the dim hallway.

"P-professor," Ron blurted, "Harry had a nightmare, so we were-"

"Coming to see me," Dumbledore finished. "I assumed as much. I was just heading to my office for a little pick me up before breakfast. If you'd like to join me, Harry?"

Harry gave a vague nod, his expression a mottled mix of anger and need. He wanted to scream and tear something to pieces, but he also wanted to have Dumbledore explain the dream and tell him it didn't matter, that everything would be fine.

"You might want to head down to see Poppy," Dumbledore said to Ron, smiling at the boy's dark blush. "That eye looks like it could use a bit of tending. Was that your work, Harry? Quite a right hook you must have, and so early in the morning, too..."

Ron sighed as he watched the two disappear down the corridor that led to Dumbledore's office. He'd thought that maybe, since he had walked Harry there, he could sit in on this meeting. It was one of the downfalls of being best friends with the Boy Who Lived. He got a share of the grief, and none of the attention or consideration. He just got a shiner, a close encounter with crucio, and a trip to the infirmary first thing Saturday morning.

"It may suck to be you," Ron muttered, "but being me isn't that much better. I can't remember the last time Dumbledore called me by my first name, when he calls me anything at all..."

He was still mumbling under his breath when he reached the infirmary, his scowl directed at the floor. So he nearly walked right into the sentry standing guard outside the door. One glance at the hand that reached out to halt him, and Ron was jumping away with wide eyes and a pounding heartbeat.

"What are you, a bloody vampire?" Ron demanded. "Lurking around in the dark scaring people half to death...!"

Hiei raised an eyebrow, his arms folding over his chest. "What do you want?"

Ron scowled, his irritation from that morning making him nearly invulnerable to his former unease toward the stranger. "That's the infirmary, isn't it? I'm walking toward it, aren't I? What do you think I want? I want to see the bloody nurse."

"I didn't know she was injured," Hiei sniffed. "The only one bloody in there is her patient. Come back later."

"I'm not coming back later. I'm here now, and I'm going inside. What? Is the infirmary off limits now? Dumbledore told me to come down here so he can have his private time with Harry, so if you don't like that, you can take it up with him. I'm injured. That's the infirmary. I'm going in it. So don't even bother trying to scare me off."

Hiei stared for a long moment before snorting and breaking into silent laughter. All of Ron's bravado crumbled at the sight, heat flying up to his face again. It didn't help that Madam Pomfrey picked that moment to poke her head out the door.

"Whatever happened to your face, Mr. Weasley? Come in this instant. Thank you, Hiei, but you needn't wait the day. He should be asleep for a few hours at the very least. Now, Mr. Weasley, do stop blushing. I can't see how badly you're bruised when you blush like that."

Ron growled a little at the remarks on his already hot face, but her comments filtered through to his brain long enough to make a connection. He pulled against Madam Pomfrey's hold, glancing back to the dark stranger.

"Is your name really Hiei?" asked Ron.

Hiei raised an eyebrow, not bothering to enter the room. "Yes."

"But you're not really an alien, right?"

If anyone else had said that to him, Hiei would have reacted with severe annoyance. He'd had to listen to the taunts for months after that incident with the ningen tabloids. But Ron's face was such an interesting medley of embarrassment, exasperation, disbelief, and outright confusion, that Hiei couldn't get angry. He snorted again, a real grin pulling at his lips.

"Not that I know of," Hiei said slowly, with amusement.

"Thank Merlin for that much," Ron sighed, slumping and giving over to Pomfrey's pull on him. He sent a miserable look up at the nurse, almost sniffling in despair. "I've had a really bad day, and I've only been awake an hour. You won't make me drink anything awfully foul, will you?"

"I'll try to find you something less foul than usual," Pomfrey promised, amusement dancing in her eyes.

Ron sank onto the cot and waited for her to fetch a potion or whatever it was she used on bruises. His attention wandered over the room to pause on the curtained cot across from him. A glance found Hiei still standing in the doorway, those dark red eyes watching him.

"Your friend sick?" asked Ron, keeping his voice down in case the other person was sleeping.

Hiei stared at him silently, then turned his face so he was looking out into the hall. It only took a few seconds for Ron to figure out that the jerk had as much as turned his back on his question. He scowled at Hiei and folded his arms in unconscious mimicry of the rude stranger. Then he turned to look in the other direction. Two could play the silent shoulder game.

So it was that Madam Pomfrey had a nice smirk when she came back into the room to find the two of them pointedly ignoring each other. It almost made up for the emergency she'd been woken to tend. Almost.

.-.-

Dumbledore's ears were throbbing by the time Harry ran out of steam. He did his best not to rub them while the boy was looking. Instead, he folded his hands calmly in his lap and rode it out, nodding and occasionally wincing at Harry's jump from complaint to complaint.

It was his fault Harry was so upset, so he accepted the blame and took the rant as a well deserved - and expected - outcome of their talk. He should have been more careful to keep the worry off his face when Harry had described the details of his dream. Of course he'd understood immediately that Voldemort was using the severed arm to directly stimulate the dark mark. He would have realized his tie to Severus had been broken mere seconds after it happened. And the timing of his reaction - Harry's dream - fit perfectly.

And he really should have looked at least a little surprised when Harry told him the Death Eaters had escaped from Azkaban. He had an idea Harry had realized he'd known all along, and that he was once again withholding information from him for his own good. It was almost inevitable - protect the boy and get yelled at, just hope he doesn't knock poor Fawkes over during his rant. So far his phoenix had stayed high and safe on a bookshelf, so that was one less thing to worry about.

The real crux was, of course, the picture. That detail had taken a few moments for Dumbledore to understand. Harry was naturally infuriated at the thought of Voldemort trying to harm Sirius, even after instigating his untimely death. He seemed to have convinced himself that there wasn't anything that could hurt his godfather now, but the way he railed on about it...Dumbledore supposed he would have to confirm Harry's conviction. He did so with a solemn nod that, as he'd suspected, only served to work the boy up even more.

Harry gasped in a ragged breath, his shoulders shaking in the aftermath of a somewhat stilted cyclone around Dumbledore's office. Oddly enough, he remembered it being bigger last year...

"Can't you tell me anything at all?" pleaded Harry. "Do you want to repeat last year? Didn't you say the secrets were over?"

"I'm not keeping anything from you that directly concerns you," Dumbledore said calmly, his tone just a little reproachful. "If not for your scar, you wouldn't have been involved at all. And yes, I can tell you something, a few things, actually."

Harry waited, but Dumbledore waved him to take a seat across from him. With a very frustrated glare, Harry complied.

"Now, then," said Dumbledore. "We did know that the Death Eaters had escaped Azkaban. The Ministry of Magic has chosen to keep this information as quiet as possible, so I would appreciate it if you not spread that news around. I'm sure Ron Weasley already knows, and I imagine Hermione Granger will know as soon as you return to your House. But it would be best if they were the only ones who know. We don't wish to cause a panic."

"All right," Harry grumbled. "What else?"

"No wizard can harm a deceased person using a picture. You are entirely correct in that, and have no need to worry."

"So why did he have it?" demanded Harry. "He wanted to do something with it, I know he did. And he couldn't. That's why he turned on Malfoy the way he did. Because whatever he was trying wasn't working."

"Perhaps," Dumbledore said softly. "I do not assume to know the workings of Voldemort's mind. I can't tell you why he had that particular picture, or what he planned to do with it. I can, however, settle your concern about it. You asked why Sirius stayed in the picture? The deceased are often bound to hold their place in photos, far more than the living are. As to his expression, I can only venture a guess. Some wizards have supposed the deceased know who is looking at them. It's one of the reasons your parents look so happy when you browse through the photo album and remember them. The same is true for negative feelings. For example-"

He reached back and beckoned a thick book to his hand. With Harry watching closely, and suspiciously, he showed him a picture of a dark-haired woman. She stared up at Harry with wary eyes, but the moment Dumbledore touched the clear cover, she was baring her teeth and brandishing her wand.

"This," Dumbledore explained, "was one of Voldemort's first Death Eaters. She never cared much for me in her life. This picture was taken shortly before she left Hogwarts, and not once did she stay in the frame when I flipped through this book. After her trial, that animosity was cemented into her essence. Naturally she doesn't enjoy having me look at her now that she's trapped in the frame."

"Oh," Harry sighed. "I get it."

"Also," Dumbledore continued, "the picture sounds like one taken on Hogwarts' grounds. I doubt you've spoken to Colin Creevy about his penchant for photography, so I'll explain the rules to you. Every photo that is developed of a student at Hogwarts is protected by the school. The photos taken home are duplicates. So even if there were a spell to be used on a photograph, it would fail on a duplicate. We keep the originals quite safe."

"But Voldemort would know that, right? Why would he get so angry if he knew it was a duplicate?"

Dumbledore raised one bushy eyebrow. "Didn't you say he punished Lucius when his attempt failed? I imagine he thought it an original picture, possibly stolen from the school. He wouldn't know the protections I put in place to prevent the theft of originals. Describe the photo again, please."

Harry scowled, closing his eyes as he tried to remember as much as possible about the picture. Now that he'd spent a good twenty minutes in frustrated anger, his memories of the dream were fading fast.

"He was wearing a Gryffindor uniform," said Harry. "Outside, in front of the lake. He was holding a book, and his wand."

Dumbledore nodded, flipping through a different photo album. "Do you remember the book? Or about how old he appeared?"

"It was a gray book," Harry frowned. "I don't think it was a textbook. It didn't have any words on it. I guess he looked about the same age he was...when I saw him in Snape's pensieve."

"Professor Snape," Dumbledore corrected. "And I believe I have your photo. Would this be the one?"

Harry leaned forward as Dumbledore turned the album around to show a page of familiar faces. His eyes glinted over smiling images of his father and friends, along with one that showed a young, scowling Lily in the background. The Headmaster tapped a photo toward the bottom, and Harry jolted a little in recognition.

The lighting was the same, along with the background. And Sirius was standing a little ways to the left, just about where he'd been in the dream photo. There were three striking differences. Sirius was grinning in a flashy pose for the person taking the picture, he wasn't holding the gray book, and he wasn't alone in the photo. A young Remus was sitting on the grass a ways behind him, his face half hidden in the open book.

"He wasn't there," Harry said quickly, lifting wide eyes to Dumbledore. "It was just Sirius in my dream. Lupin wasn't in the picture."

"I don't imagine he would be," said Dumbledore. "My photo-self rarely sticks around to let my enemies look at me. Then again, my photo-self is always jumping from picture to picture...he's quite active for such an old fellow..."

Harry grimaced at Dumbledore's tone, eager to hold the wizard's attention on the serious matter at hand. "What spells can a wizard cast on a photograph? If the one he had was an original, what would he have been able to do with it?"

"Any number of things," Dumbledore said airily, waving a hand. "Some believe a part of your soul is trapped when your picture is taken. Wizards know this to be true, given that our photographic selves are mobile and as autonomous as we are. Photographs are good for tracking people, learning essences, all sorts of interesting things. But it only works with an original photo, and you can't attack anyone through a photograph. No need to worry about that. Here, have a lemon drop."

The old wizard hadn't so much as paused, or even changed his serious tone. Harry slapped a hand over his face and promptly winced as his glasses dug into the bridge of his nose.

"No, thank you," he said tightly.

"If you're certain." Dumbledore popped one of the candies into his mouth and savored it with a simple smile, seeming oblivious to Harry's slumped shoulders. When he was finished, he waved a hand at the album.

"Would you like to have a copy of these, Harry? I understand Hagrid gave you quite a few photos of your parents, but considering the circumstances, he had very few pictures of James' friends. I must say, Sirius was quite photogenic in his younger days. I have more photos of him than I rightfully should have of a single student. I wonder if there were more cameras that year…"

Although Harry's anger had led him to speaking openly about his godfather, he didn't want to listen to Dumbledore talk about him in such a whimsical tone. He shifted uncomfortably, not looking any higher than his clenched hands. "I'd like a copy."

"And in exchange," Dumbledore smiled, "perhaps you'd deliver a package for me? I would ask Fawkes, but I'm afraid our little talk has left him rather ruffled."

Harry's eyes darted upward, and he flushed at the reproachful glare the phoenix was giving him from its spot on the bookshelf.

"I'll do it," Harry said quickly.

Their talk was obviously finished, so there wasn't much point hanging around. Harry stood and watched Dumbledore pull a small cloth bundle from the shelf behind him. He accepted the bag, hefting it in his palm and wondering briefly about the contents. He couldn't feel the texture through the soft cloth, but he imagined this might be what floo powder felt like.

"If you'll take that down to Lupin, I would be quite grateful," said Dumbledore.

Harry's head snapped up, and he gave a quick frown. "I don't know where his office is this year. I asked him the other day, but-"

"Yes," Dumbledore said smoothly, "he hadn't quite settled in, I take it. His office is near the infirmary, in what was…I believe it was the old Defense classroom. That's rather ironic in a way, I hadn't thought about it. But no matter. He should be there by now, setting up a bit before breakfast. The weekend has gotten a rather early start, you know."

With barely a nod, Harry edged away from the headmaster's desk. He'd already given up on getting any more information from Dumbledore. Now he beat a hasty retreat, eager to find Lupin and ask him the dozens of questions that had been beating his mind for the past week. He was surprised that Dumbledore had as much as asked him to visit his friend, considering Lupin had seemed hesitant to even tell Harry where his office would be. But he wasn't one to dissect a gift broom for hidden curses. He'd leave that sort of paranoia to Hermione.

It wasn't until he saw how much brighter the halls were that Harry remembered Ron. He suffered a brief flash of guilt that he was leaving his friend out, especially given what he'd accidentally done to him that morning.

A glance down at the heavy little bag reminded him that he had a perfect excuse. He wasn't just going to visit Lupin, he was delivering a package for Dumbledore. That probably wouldn't hold up very well when he explained it to Ron, but it was a good enough excuse for the moment.

Dumbledore's directions turned out to be a little vague. Harry passed the last two defense classrooms before he found the right one. Since the defense teachers changed yearly, the classes were almost never held in the same rooms. Lupin's new office turned out to be the room that he'd taught class in during Harry's third year. He probably should have guessed as much – Dumbledore _had_ called it ironic.

The door was open to the hall, soft voices carrying from inside the room. Harry hesitated just out of sight, his brows drawn down in surprise and not a little confusion. He recognized Lupin's voice immediately. The other person, though, didn't seem to be speaking the same language.

"But you did hesitate."

"Iya, nan demo nai. Hiei wa…"

Silence fell over the room and a head poked out the door to blink at Harry. Wide green eyes stared at him so close the dark lashes almost touched his glasses. Harry jumped and landed on his backside, biting his tongue with a muffled groan.

"Ohayo gozaimasu," Kurama grinned. "Good morning. Early to be eavesdropping, isn't it?"

"I wasn't," Harry blurted. "I mean, I was just-"

Lupin came out from behind Kurama, a pleased smile breaking over his face when he saw who it was. "Good morning, Harry. I didn't think you'd be awake so early."

"I had a dream," Harry said, shooting a wary look at Kurama. "Dumbledore asked me to deliver this to you."

Luckily he hadn't landed on the little bag. He pushed himself up and handed it to Lupin, his gaze moving again to the smiling redhead. He hadn't counted on having an audience.

"Is this a bad time to visit?" he asked quietly.

"Not at all," said Lupin. "We were just setting a few things up."

Harry followed him inside, noting with discomfort that Kurama remained leaning against the door. It was almost as bad as having Snape spy on him in the classroom when he'd tried to sneak a few words with Lupin. Why was it so hard to get privacy this year?

"Dumbledore asked you to bring this to me?" asked Lupin.

Harry gave a quick nod. Lupin pulled the string on the bag so he could peak inside. Whatever he saw must have amused him, telling Harry that it probably wasn't the floo powder he'd suspected it to be.

"I wonder if he could have been confused," Lupin murmured, sending a smooth look over at Kurama. "This isn't for me, but for Hiei."

"Really," Kurama remarked. "I'm surprised Dumbledore would make such a pointed mistake."

Harry blinked in confusion, feeling more than a little left out of the knowing look the two were exchanging. Kurama crossed the room and palmed the bag, something in his expression proclaiming a joke was being played. Since Harry had no idea what the joke was, he didn't think he'd catch the punch line. The redhead plucked something out of the bag and ate it. Harry felt a bit of sweat break out on his temple. It definitely wasn't floo powder.

"I'll just bring this to Hiei, then," said Kurama. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Not at all," Lupin returned. "Harry and I have a few things to catch up on."

"Nice to see you outside of class, Harry," Kurama nodded.

The redhead slipped out the door, closing it behind him. Harry stared after him, wondering how he'd gotten so familiar as to use his first name. But he was alone with Lupin. That quickly took precedence.

Lupin had no more than sat down across the desk from him, than Harry launched into the first of his many questions. He was so excited to finally talk with his friend, that he blurted something he hadn't planned to ask.

"Did you come into money? Your robes are much nicer than I remember."

Startled by the question – and the way Harry slapped his hands over his mouth in visible embarrassment – Lupin leaned away from the desk.

"Not exactly," Lupin said slowly.

"I didn't mean to ask that," Harry blurted, scowling at himself. "I've been waiting to talk to you all week, I don't know why that was the first thing to come out of my mouth."

A slow smile made it back to Lupin's face, and he relaxed in his seat. "It's all right, Harry. It has been brought to my attention that appearance is very important for first impressions. As honest as my worn clothing is, it does not give a good impression of me or my position as both an auror and a professor at Hogwarts. And I do admit, threadbare robes get rather drafty at times."

Harry grinned at the wry smile Lupin gave him. "So you didn't just cave to peer pressure?"

"Now that's an interesting term," Lupin blinked, "peer pressure. It fits surprisingly well. No, I didn't cave to pressure from my peers. I merely agreed with a few well coined terms from our wise Headmaster."

"Whatever the reason, you look better than you did the first day of class. Were you ill? Ron said he hadn't seen you at the Order. We were really surprised you're teaching again. Not," Harry blurted, "that I don't think you're a great teacher. You're definitely the best Defense professor we've had. I just didn't think the Ministry would let you come back."

"There were a number of things involved in that," Lupin admitted. "Mostly I have Dumbledore to thank for my return here. But I must say, that while having my best student praise my teaching skills is quite flattering, we're both a little biased."

"We might be biased," said Harry, "but I bet even the Slytherins learned more from you than they did from anyone else teaching Defense. But really, how did Dumbledore convince the Ministry to let you come back?"

"He didn't convince them, he told them. He was rather high handed about it. I suspect the need for a willing Defense professor helped his cause."

"Especially now that…well," Harry frowned, "you know about the Death Eaters, right?"

"Yes. I take it that was part of your dream?"

Harry nodded, his expression falling some. "I didn't think they'd get out of Azkaban. It's like we can't just catch them and lock them up…"

"Not now that the Dementors have abandoned our side," Lupin finished. "They were the ones holding prisoners. Alone, it would take merlin class wizards to maintain that level of control."

"What is the order planning to do, then?"

Lupin blinked, a surprised frown crossing his face. "Harry…you know I can't tell you that…"

Harry's first instinct was to get angry, but one look at Lupin's sad, almost reproachful expression had him deflating. He knew better. It wasn't just for his own safety. His connection to Voldemort could put the order in danger – what he knew, Voldemort could likely learn.

"Right," Harry ground out, wincing a little. "I wasn't thinking. I guess there's no point asking where you've been, then. I sent you two letters last month, but Ron said you never showed up to get them…"

"I was away on an assignment," Lupin explained, smiling a little when Harry looked up in surprise. "I can tell you that much. I didn't expect to be away so long, but…there were complications."

"Was it bad…?"

"Yes," said Lupin. "I don't want you to misunderstand, Harry. Being an auror means taking a great deal of responsibility. It is something to be proud of. It's also inherently dangerous. I completed my assignment, but due to things outside my control, the mission itself was a failure. Today is the first day in weeks that I've been able to use magic. I'm lucky to have made a full recovery. Anyone else would be dead now."

"Why?" asked Harry, his eyes wide. He wanted to ask for details, to know exactly what sort of danger Lupin had gone into. Becoming an auror was his chosen path after he left Hogwarts, so he had to be prepared for the sort of tasks he'd be given. But he couldn't ask for more information, because he wasn't a member of the order. That didn't even consider that he could be used as an unwitting spy for Voldemort, via his scar.

"I survived because," Lupin paused dramatically, leaning closer to Harry, "don't tell anyone, but…I'm not entirely human."

Harry couldn't help the droll look that passed over his face. If Lupin were poking fun at him, then he wasn't going to get much out of him.

"You're not entirely sane, either," Harry remarked playfully.

Lupin gave a sad nod, leaning back in his chair once more. "You're not the first to notice that."

"I'll bet," said Harry. "When did you learn Japanese?"

The shift in subject caught Lupin by surprise, but he recovered quickly. "I knew a few words, but most of it's a spell. Language charms are very handy for dealing with foreign correspondents."

"I didn't know we had language charms," Harry frowned. "Fudge could have used one of those at the World Cup."

Lupin grinned and shot a quick glance to make sure the door was firmly closed. "He's never been one for charms. And before Hermione gets it in her mind to ask, there are no Japanese language charms in Hogwarts' library. We have very few asian relations."

"She probably would have asked, too," said Harry. "Are those strangers some kind of secret? Dumbledore's never had guests here without introducing them to us. There are all sorts of rumors going around about them."

"I wouldn't say it's a secret, exactly. They're here to assist Severus and I, probably for a good part of the year."

"Assist," Harry repeated, "in your classes, you mean?"

Lupin paused for a moment, thrown by the suggestion and intrigued by the idea. A sly smile curved his lips. "Now that would be interesting. I'll have to pass that suggestion on to Kurama. Hiei would throw a fit at the very idea, though I imagine Severus would throw a much bigger fit. It would be something of a contest…quite amusing, really.."

Confusion was clear on Harry's face, but he did pick up the mention of 'Hiei' in relation to Kurama. Now that he thought about it, he was sure Lupin had mentioned that name earlier, too, before the redhead had left the room. Score one point for Luna, though he hoped she was wrong about the alien bit…

"If they aren't here to help with classes, why are they here?"

"They're doing a favor for Dumbledore," Lupin explained, "the nature of which I'm not at liberty to tell. You'd have to ask them yourself."

Harry rolled his eyes, folding his arms over his chest and wrinkling his nose. "That's just what Mr. Weasley said when Ron wrote to him. Some stuff about it not being his place to gossip. Do you know what people are saying about them? And what about Shoo-itchy Mean-uh-mean-oh? Who's he '_assisting_'?"

If he hadn't been so surprised, Lupin might have laughed at the way Harry struggled over Kurama's last name. Instead, he raised an eyebrow and gave the boy a very close look. "How do you know that name, Harry? As far as I know, Kurama hasn't given it to any of the students."

"I saw it on the-"

Harry cut himself off, his mouth snapping shut and his eyes widening. He took a deep breath and broke into a wide, triumphant smirk. "Kurama is Shoo-itchy! That _is_ his real name! I knew it. Darn Hermione making everything so complicated. She really thought-"

"Harry," Lupin interrupted quietly, the corner of his mouth twitching. "Harry, did you see Kurama on the Marauder's Map? As Shuuichi Minamino?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "Weirdest thing, too. That other guy doesn't show up at all. We saw him when we were…er…"

Lupin gave in to the smile and tilted his head at the flustered boy. "Do I need to confiscate the map again? I know it begs for you to use it in rule breaking, but this really isn't the best year to be sneaking around after hours."

"We won't!" Harry said quickly, a little too quickly.

"I'll hold you to that," said Lupin.

"Right," Harry nodded. "So, um, are you going to be teaching your class Monday? No more Snape?"

"Professor Snape."

Two seconds passed in silence. Then Harry cracked.

"Why does everyone keep _doing_ that?" Harry cried, his expression exasperated. "I'm even getting it from you, now? No one ever corrects me when I call _you_ by your last name, and almost no one corrects me when I say Dumbledore. It took five _years_ to get Hermione to stop doing it, and now you're doing it, too?"

Lupin gave a weak smile and moved so he could put a confiding hand on Harry's shoulder. "It's different when you say my name, Harry. Outside of classes, I'm not just your professor. I'm your friend, and a friend of your family. No one would correct you for calling my by my name. The same is true for Dumbledore, who doesn't mind in the least if you address him by name. Did you notice how startled you were when Kurama called you by your first name, even though you'd never spoken to him? It implied a familiarity that you didn't instigate."

"I didn't correct him, though," Harry muttered. "It just surprised me. It's not like I call Snape by his name where he can hear me."

"It's a matter of respect for your professor," said Lupin. "You don't have to like him. In fact, he's given you every reason to hate him. He's treated you horridly since you first came to Hogwarts, when you hadn't done anything at all to deserve it. It's as natural for you to resent him as it is for him to resent me. But he's still a professor doing a very difficult job. You don't have to respect him as a person, but as your professor, he's the best in his field."

"He's biased!" Harry argued. "He lets the Slytherins get away with all kinds of mistakes and cuts points from Gryffindor for the tiniest thing!"

"And yet the scores for everyone, even Gryffindors like Neville, are better than they've been in forty years. I didn't say I approve of his methods, Harry. The results speak for themselves. Surely you've noticed that Potions is one of the most difficult classes?"

"Not according to Hermione," said Harry. "She was taking all kinds of advanced classes, stuff I don't even want to touch."

"She's the exception," Lupin smiled, "not the rule. Hermione is one of the brightest students Hogwarts has seen. But did you notice that you outscored her in Defense? Her skills lean themselves toward theory, while yours are practical. Potions involves having complete control over one's self, patience, study, understanding of the principles of _creating_ magic, rather than simply using it. A spell is a memorized repetition of something other wizards have already created for you to use. With potions you have a guideline – ingredients and theories – but you _make_ the magic.

"The reason people like Neville have so much trouble with Potions is because it takes a different sort of control than practical magic does. The slightest distraction can ruin everything, and no amount of quick reaction time can fix it. You have to start from scratch. Do you remember how many times you tried before forming a clear patronis? Imagine if you had to do it the first time, with nothing but written guidelines to tell you how. Failure on the first try could result in harm not only to yourself, but to your classmates. That's the difference between Potions and Defense."

"Maybe it's harder," Harry scowled, "but it can't be as important as Defense or he wouldn't want to be the Defense teacher. He's been obsessed with that job since I came to Hogwarts."

"Potions isn't as important," Lupin admitted, "not with the rise of dark practitioners. Since then, Defense has become a matter of survival for students. The person who teaches that class is taking the responsibility of preparing students to face possible death and to survive. No matter what Dumbledore says in Severus' defense, the Ministry will _never_ accept a former Death Eater as a Defense teacher. Never. Even those who know he became a member of the order won't trust him.

"If it were up to Dumbledore, and he could find a satisfactory replacement for Potions, Severus would have been made Defense teacher years ago. It just isn't that simple. The reason he wants the position is because he knows he can't have it. And it's not because he isn't qualified. Who better to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts than someone who's been working with and surviving the dark arts for most of his life?"

"So why do you teach it?" asked Harry.

"I'm an auror," Lupin shrugged. "I've dedicated my life to fighting the dark arts, so I have practical knowledge from the field. My experience makes me a better professor than those who teach only theory. I'm like you when it comes to that."

Harry blinked in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"We both learn better through hands-on experience and lots of practice. I was horrible in potions, just like you. The only difference is that I was terrible because half my potions were intentionally spoiled by my classmates. It wasn't because I didn't pay attention, or for lack of effort on my part. If I'd been on my own, I would have scraped by a little higher than you do. Not much, mind you, but a little."

"Snape?"

"No," Lupin blinked, a little taken back by the suggestion. "I don't know what all you saw in that memory, Harry, but we kept our vendetta out of the classrooms. Potions was Severus' favorite class. I don't think he ever paid us the least bit of attention when we had that class together. And James wasn't the sort to act up in front of professors, or to disrupt other students. No, mostly it was James and Sirius playing mischief-makers at Peter's expense, and mine by default."

"So…instead of picking on other students they picked on their friends…?"

Lupin winced at Harry's shocked expression, a weak grin flashing over his face. "I wouldn't call it picking on so much as teasing. Have you ever taunted Hermione about studying too much, said things to distract her just because you can?"

"Ron does that," Harry frowned, "but I don't."

Lupin raised an eyebrow, doubt visible on his face. And Harry sighed.

"Maybe a little," muttered Harry, "but never when she actually _needs_ to study."

"But you do it because otherwise she'll keep her nose in the book and miss out on everything around her. That's how I was. The difference is that I didn't have her gift. No matter how long I spent trying, there were some things I simply couldn't master. Potions was one of them. Like I said, I might have done a little bit better without the distractions, but it would have been a very slight improvement. So when James decided I was trying too hard, I was inclined to agree with him."

He gave Harry a pointed, knowing look. "James was easily distracted in classes he didn't like."

Harry flushed a little, knowing he was the same way, but also pleased to hear he got the trait from his father.

"We all passed our courses," Lupin continued, "and by the time we were in our sixth year, James had settled down trying to impress Lily. She was very good for him."

"Everyone tells me that…"

Harry dropped his eyes, wondering how stark a change his mother had marked in James Potter, former Marauder and troublemaker. The only information he had on his father before her had come from Snape's memories, so it was reassuring to hear a different point of view. Lupin was surely just as biased, but he'd never denied their flaws. Even Sirius had admitted they were excessive at times. They'd still been close friends.

He found himself comparing his own group of friends with them. Immediately he remembered the photograph Dumbledore had shown him. Lupin, with his nose in a book, playing the quiet student in a restrained version of Hermione. He could see himself as his father, getting all the attention, only in his case he got it without wanting it. Again, he was a restrained comparison. And he supposed Peter might have been similar to Neville, a part of the group, yet always in the background.

The only real problem he had was Ron. He couldn't compare Ron with Sirius, not with the attention-seeking teenage Sirius who instigated cruelty when he was bored, or with the angry pent-up man who'd been restless at feeling useless in the order house, not even with the hungrily affectionate man who'd worried over him during those quiet moments. Ron was a confidante, and as much as Harry had been drawn to Sirius, he'd never found the same bond in him. Sirius had been a surrogate father. Ron was his best friend.

"Lupin? What's behind that curtain…?"

Lupin jerked against the desk, startled out of his own thoughts. His expression fell into a wary frown. "It's in the Department of Mysteries for a reason, Harry. Only Merlin class wizards have information on the studies being done there."

"I heard voices behind it," Harry whispered. "If I went back, I think I could hear his voice behind there, too. I wanted to look…but no one would let me…"

"I'm glad you didn't."

.-.-

It was strange how quiet Hogwarts could be, even when a person walked through crowded halls of students eager to enjoy their free time. A few made greetings to him, quick, respectful or fearful words that melted into the rest of the background noise. Draco thought he might have nodded in response to them, but he didn't stop to see if he had. If he stopped, he was sure he'd have frozen in place until Crabbe or Goyle found him and took him back to the dorm, or possibly outside to wake him from his seeming stupor. He didn't want that.

He'd spent the last hour – or was it two hours – in the room of requirement, the only room he could be sure wouldn't let him be interrupted – or found – until he was finished. Now the flow of students had slowed to a trickle. At first it had pushed him along, leading him toward his destination as students ducked into their dorms after breakfast. Then it had turned to an upstream struggle against the same students as they headed outdoors. He couldn't remember the last time he'd walked so slowly down these halls.

A sharp angry voice broke through the haze, and he stopped in his tracks to stare at the open door ahead of him. A second, softer voice responded to the first, and he glared at the sounds. His hands curled, one crumpling the parchment in a tight fist, the other digging smooth nails into his palm. Then he stalked forward.

Snape spotted the boy first, his eyes immediately dropping to the letter. His manner shifted from irritated to empty in the space of a few seconds. He didn't so much as blink when Hiei shifted to stand between him and the doorway.

Some of Draco's resolve crumbled when he spotted Hiei, a memory of that low voice whispering through his mind. He felt a tremor try to break out on his arms and stifled it viciously. His gaze snapped up to look at Snape, and he was careful not to blink.

"I know," said Draco.

"I can see that," Snape answered, his tone just as cold.

Kurama stepped forward slowly, very aware of how both Slytherins flinched at the movement. He crossed to stand next to Hiei, his curious gaze moving over Draco's furious face. The boy was trembling. Oh, he had it controlled to the point where few people would see it, but Kurama could almost feel the vibrations in the air. But it wasn't just anger. There was fear in his eyes.

"Do you need something?" Kurama asked politely.

"I want to speak to Professor Snape for a moment."

The amount of control the boy had was impressive, in that his voice didn't waver a bit. And his tone, as far as Kurama could tell, was every bit as polite as his had been.

Snape broke eye contact, long enough to give Kurama a slow nod. "If you'll excuse us."

"Of course," Kurama smiled. "Come, Hiei, let's leave the professor to his student."

Hiei's eyebrow twitched, the only sign that he didn't want to go. He remained rooted in his spot until Kurama caught his shoulders and gave him a light push toward the door. Then he scowled, glaring heatedly at the way Draco snapped to the side to avoid touching so much as a thread of his cloak.

The moment Kurama closed the door behind them, Hiei jerked him further down the hall.

"What are you thinking?" Hiei demanded. "You know what he was holding."

"Of course I do," said Kurama. "I could sense the energy on that paper the same as you could. But we agreed, Hiei. Until we're told otherwise, the only people we do not protect them from are Draco and Harry. If Snape feels confident to be alone with him, then it's his choice."

"I don't trust him."

"You don't _like_ him," Kurama corrected.

"The two are the same," Hiei glared.

"Only for you. What…Hiei, you can't spy on them…!"

"I can and I will," Hiei snapped. "Let go of my arm or lose your hand."

"Have I told you that you're overprotective of people you like?"

"Yes," Hiei snorted, pulling the band off his jagan. "Now shut up."

Kurama sighed and reached over so he could splay his right hand above Hiei's open jagan. It earned him what would later settle into a nice third degree burn, and the sharp poke of a startled elbow in his stomach.

"What the hell are you doing?" Hiei blurted.

"Watching," Kurama sniffed. "If you're going to spy on them, I want to see it, too. So hurry up. This hurts…"

Hiei snorted, a smirk crossing his face. "Stupid fox."

.-.-

Draco stalked forward and handed him the letter. Snape read it three times in silence before setting it down. He was furious, and frustrated, and concerned, and wary, and…he couldn't stand to see the way Draco fidgeted when he finally looked up.

Vulnerability was painful on someone who lived with constant bravado. It fit Draco like a second skin so tight it might have easily choked the life out of him. The worst was in his eyes, too wide, panicky, and yet somehow removed in a glossy daze.

"Well?" asked Snape.

It was the first word since the demons had left them alone, and it seemed to shatter the last bits of Draco's strength. He sank down in the chair across from Snape's desk and ducked his head into his hands.

"I don't know," Draco admitted. "I don't know what to do…"

.-.-  
TBC


	8. Spies, Mints, and Curious Kits

_Category:_ Harry Potter-YYH crossover  
_Warnings:_ **dialogue**, bits of humor  
_Author:_ Arigatomina  
_Email:_ arigatoumina (a) hotmail . com  
_Website:_ www . geocities . com / arigatomina

**Higher Learning**

_Part 8: Spies, Mints, and Curious Kits _

Kurama sat back from the circular table, his right hand submerged in the bowl on his lap. The burns would take a good day or two to heal since he had refused any magical assistance. But he wasn't above borrowing a few plants from the infirmary collection. Cirada – which probably went by a completely different name according to the wizards - worked nicely to numb the stinging sensation. He kept his palm covered with the thick, cool liquid as he listened to the argument going on around him.

They'd chosen the room of requirement rather than Dumbledore's somewhat claustrophobic office. A quick bit of thinking and it was happy to supply them with a wide table, the appropriate number of chairs, and no interruptions. Dumbledore sat at the head, Snape and Lupin facing each other from either side, and Kurama seated across from the headmaster.

Hiei was currently scowling next to Snape, inspecting the wizard's arm rather than taking part in the discussion. He'd been set against the man using magic to heal the wound, considering it was magic that had created the curse to begin with. But he didn't sense any adverse side effects to it. What had formerly been a wet crater that dug straight down into the bone was now a concave patch of shiny red skin, not too dissimilar from the burn mark on Kurama's palm. There was something to be said for those quick little spells, not that Hiei would ever admit it aloud.

He took his seat next to Kurama and let his annoyed gaze shift over the angry men bickering on the other side of the table. The fact that Snape had barely glared at him when he checked his arm spoke of how serious the wizards were about their argument.

As far as Hiei was concerned, the entire matter could have been avoided if the idiots would simply have killed the convicted death eaters instead of locking them in a prison they couldn't maintain. The way they talked, it was obvious they had no plans to kill their enemies any time soon. They were concerned with surviving the plague and slowing the infection rate, instead of wiping out the disease itself.

"No one wants to put Draco in danger," Dumbledore was saying to Lupin, his tone placating and just a tad defensive. "The problem is that he can't simply turn down an official request without making himself a target. As much as I wish it were otherwise, I can't protect everyone. The entire Malfoy family is aligned with Death Eaters, so we can't set him up with any sort of blood protection. That means he would have to sever ties with his family entirely. I can't imagine he would agree to that. It remains his decision to make. If he's willing to act as a spy for our cause, then it would be very useful, especially now. But I do agree with you, Remus. He's far too young to even consider such a thing."

Snape shot a sharp look at Dumbledore, his voice a little soft considering the distaste dripping from his tone. "I was a student when I was recruited."

"Yes," said Dumbledore, "but I didn't know that until after you'd left Hogwarts. I would never ask a student to act as a spy, no matter how it might benefit the Order."

"But you've been setting him up for this," Lupin accused, disgust marring his angry expression. "You've known that Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Millicent – half of the Slytherin class have parents who are Death Eaters. You knew they had the highest chance of becoming ones themselves."

Dumbledore nodded with a tired expression, his eyes downcast. "We can't protect students from their own families. But we were hoping Draco's attachment to Severus would draw him to our side after he left Hogwarts. It wasn't necessarily to use him as a spy. The main hope was that he would choose to sever ties with his family on his own. Barring that…"

"You'd have him set up to act as a spy," Lupin repeated. "Either way, it benefits the Order. I can't believe this…"

"That's because you're naïve," said Snape. "Draco has been aware of his options since the day the Dark Lord was resurrected. He chose to confide in me, aware that I had a higher rank among the Death Eaters than his father did. That was his choice. He knew he'd be recruited and wanted to gain the support of someone powerful enough to keep him from following his father's fall to lapdog status. Now that he knows I was a spy for the Order, and not the other way around, he'll make a new decision. Whether it's the Order, or the Death Eaters, he _will_ be used. His choice is to pick the side he goes to."

Lupin looked away, his hands clenched beneath the table. He couldn't reconcile himself to the thought of a child being forced into a decision like that. And yet, he was all too aware of the truth in Snape's words. During his own final years at Hogwarts he'd seen the signs. Slytherin students changing abruptly, some becoming ten times as cruel, others turning into little more than shadows. A few had disappeared altogether, resisters who'd refused recruitment. Adult wizards might have been the ones fighting the war in the years that followed, but Voldemort had always seemed to plan ahead. Followers were far more dedicated if taken at a vulnerable age, more easily molded or cowed. There was no reason to think he'd have changed his methods since then.

"We may be getting ahead of ourselves," said Dumbledore. "So far Lucius is the only contact Draco has had. This request may not necessarily be a sign of recruitment."

"A test," Snape nodded. "If he gets the information Lucius wants him to get, he'll prove himself a potentially useful Death Eater. If he fails, he may ruin any chance he has of becoming one of the Dark Lord's personal aides, in which case he'd be useless to the Order, and his life would be in constant risk from both sides. At best, they may consider him too incompetent to become a Death Eater. That would have the same effect as severing ties with his family and peers. I doubt he'd allow that."

"There's no reason to leave it entirely up to him," Lupin said sharply. "If we know what this test is, it's up to us whether or not Draco accomplishes it. What was in that letter?"

Snape didn't so much as glance over. Dumbledore sighed, rubbing his fingers over his temple and avoiding Lupin's pointed stare.

"They want a picture," Kurama offered.

Snape snapped around with a venomous glare, but Kurama ignored it. Even if Dumbledore chose to allow Snape to keep the contents a secret from Lupin, that didn't mean Kurama was sworn to secrecy.

"The letter," Kurama continued, "warned Draco that Snape is a spy. He's been told to keep an eye on him, and to take note of his movements inside the school. Obviously they can't track him now that the dark mark has been removed. The test is to obtain a picture of the demons. I'm sure Dumbledore can explain why they would ask for something like that…?"

Dumbledore glanced over, a wry smile pulling at his lips. "I did agree to keep the two of you informed about everything. I didn't realize you would pick things up on your own so easily."

"Little gets past me," Hiei stated, his eyes cold. "It's best not to even try."

"So I see," Dumbledore smiled. "Well, then, I should explain what Harry told me about his dream. Now that they've lost ties with Severus, their intention is to identify the strangers responsible. The letter makes it obvious they suspect the two of you are demons. There is only one way to track demons without getting within a detectable range of them."

"The picture," Hiei sneered.

Kurama winced a little at Hiei's tone. He couldn't help but remember that the only picture of Hiei in existence was one he and Yusuke had forced their friend to 'stand' for. They'd literally had to carry him over and hold him in place long enough for the camera to snap the shot. The only reason Hiei hadn't flash-fried them both was because Yukina had been watching the scene. And that had been a normal, human, picture. He couldn't even imagine how furious Hiei would be if someone took a wizard photo of him.

"They intend to get an original?" asked Lupin. "Even if they did, no living demon can be forced to remain in a wizard photo."

"Unless he's only part demon," said Kurama. He sent a pointed look at Dumbledore, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Do you expect Lupin and I to submit to being photographed? Or do you honestly believe they were including Hiei when they used the word _demons_?"

Lupin blinked in surprise, and Snape snorted, a smirk breaking out over his face. Though he didn't appreciate the source, it was satisfying to hear someone else say what he'd held for years. Werewolves were demons during the full moon. Whether they were tame enough to be considered magical creatures the rest of the month, they carried considerable demon blood. Compared to halfbreeds like Hagrid, werewolves were of darker ilk. Giants had never had the dark energy to be considered demons, however evil they sometimes behaved.

"I'm afraid he's right," Dumbledore said to Lupin. "Harry's dream involved a photograph of you. Harry didn't understand the significance, but it was rather clear that the purpose was to track you through it. Had it been an original, that would have been successful."

"With an original," Kurama glared, "a wizard can force even a half-demon to remain in the frame long enough to memorize his youki and reiki mix. If they thought they had an original, that means the original still exists. Why hasn't it been destroyed?"

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair with a pronounced frown, the closest he'd come to an outright scowl. "I cannot destroy photos of former students. Original photographs are perfectly safe at Hogwarts."

"And if Draco manages to take a photograph without turning the original over to you?" Kurama prodded.

"That won't happen," said Hiei.

He turned a bored look over the wizards, not minding the frowns sent his way. "If they want a photo of the demons, they can have one. Original, not original, it doesn't matter."

He lifted his arm and pointed at Lupin. "As a wolf, he won't be consigned to stay in a photograph. The fox won't either. They didn't specify what sort of picture they wanted of the…demons."

"Getting ahead of ourselves again," Dumbledore protested. "We haven't decided if we want Draco to pass this 'test' or not. At the moment, it's enough that we are aware of their intentions."

"Assuming Draco doesn't decide on his own," said Kurama. "What makes you think he'll wait for your permission to decide his future? Rather presumptuous of you, isn't it?"

Snape turned bodily to stare at Kurama, his gaze suspicious. He was almost relieved to see the faint flash of gold over those narrow green eyes. Kurama's voice had gone frigid in the last few minutes, very different from the casual tone he'd started out with.

"Draco doesn't want to decide," Snape said slowly, deliberately keeping his tone sober. "He plans to hold off on making any decision until he's had more time to consider the results. We don't plan to make that decision for him. At best, we're…considering whether to aid him or hinder him, depending on his choice."

"Precisely," said Dumbledore.

Kurama opened his mouth and Hiei silenced him with a mint candy. The redhead choked in surprise, almost swallowing the confection.

"We don't need to hear you plan how you'll manipulate this boy," Hiei said to Dumbledore. "You babysit for the day. We'll be back by nightfall."

Hiei stood and tugged off his scarf, dropping it in the bowl Kurama was holding. He didn't have to explain.

Kurama scowled a little, but wrapped the damp cloth over his hand so he could leave the bowl on the table. He really wanted to dress down the pompous man who claimed to have the power to kill the supposed 'dark lord', but who chose to spend his time using children to fight his wars instead. Unfortunately for him, Hiei wasn't quite bored enough to watch him say things he'd likely regret later. Kurama snapped his teeth down on the little mint and crunched it irritably as he followed Hiei out of the room.

Left in the room, Dumbledore gave a regretful sigh. "It appears I've not made the best impression with our guests…"

"It's not you," Snape said, a dark smirk twisting his face. "He fancies the wolf. Canine types get along surprisingly well. One would expect such territorial _animals_ to be snapping at each other's throats."

Lupin gave a tight smile. "Rather like you and Hiei…? I didn't realize you were territorial, Severus. But you do snap at throats very well for a _human_. Should I model my behavior after yours?"

"It would be an improvement," Snape stated, seemingly unfazed by the taunts. "Despite their appearances, they _are_ demons. Only a fool would forget that."

Dumbledore let out another quiet sigh, his gaze shifting sadly from one glaring professor over to the other.

"Perhaps having the two of you watched separately wasn't the best plan," he said, his tone thoughtful. "I had hoped working together might let you overcome your past animosity. It would be a shame to have professors who are unable to carry on a rational conversation without coming to verbal blows."

Snape bristled and dropped his gaze to glare at the table. If anything, Dumbledore's reasonable tone made him want to lash out even more. He knew very well that the headmaster held him responsible. Which was just ridiculous since Lupin gave as good as he got. Why did it fall on _him_ to avoid conflict? As far as he was concerned, the only way to deal with a problem was to attack it head on. With everyone – even Kurama – jumping in to play pacifist, there wasn't a chance of resolving anything.

"I apologize, Headmaster," Lupin said quietly, his gaze downcast and sober.

It took all of Snape's control not to snort aloud. A prim and proper werewolf. As much respect as he had for Dumbledore, he'd never understand how the man could fall for such a ridiculous act.

"Yes," said Dumbledore, "well, you've made progress, anyway. As to the recent developments – we won't act until Draco has reached a decision. Severus, I expect you to be on guard until then. It would be best if he didn't leave the school without supervision. Lucius is certain to make actual contact at the first opportunity. So long as we can postpone that, Draco will have more time to consider his options."

"You're absolutely set on not interfering in his decision?" asked Lupin.

"He couldn't if he wanted to," Snape stated. "Nothing short of imperius will sway Draco Malfoy once he's set his mind on something. Be glad he isn't as rash and impulsive as _some_ people his age."

Lupin carefully ignored that pointed comment, reminding himself that he'd already behaved immaturely once in the last ten minutes. If he couldn't even keep his tongue in check in front of Dumbledore – the one who'd gone out of his way to acquire him a position at Hogwarts despite the opposition – then he was no better than the students Hiei had complained about, attacking each other when they should have been united against the common enemy.

"In the meantime," Dumbledore continued, "we should consider our own position. Koenma has guaranteed us Reikai assistance for two more months. After that, it will be up to Kurama and Hiei, as to whether or not they wish to maintain their presence here. They've no obligation to us, so we should be prepared for what will happen after they leave. If we can't shift attention away from the two of you before then, this will be little more than a stay of execution."

"Which is still something," said Lupin. "With so much focus on us, they're unlikely to move forward on their plans to unite our enemies against us."

Snape nodded, his dark eyes flicking to Dumbledore. "That Abadon most certainly recognized Hiei's strength. The Dark Lord will take that to mean we've aligned ourselves with demons. His plans will have been thrown completely. Gathering magical creatures in his forces is useless if he believes the Order has demon allies to call upon."

"I dislike bluffing," Dumbledore sighed. "There's always the chance the opposition will reinforce his strength to match the bluff. In which case, we'll be at an even more pronounced disadvantage when the bluff is revealed."

"But that's assuming they can gather demons," Lupin protested. "Kurama assures me none but the weakest demons would ever consider taking orders from wizards. Even if there were stronger demons willing to join, they have a class system that prevents all but the very strongest, and the very weakest, from crossing from one realm to the other. The Reikai would know if any of the strong ones tried to come into the human realm."

Snape raised an eyebrow at that. "What guarantee do we have the Reikai would inform us? Their involvement is necessarily limited."

"Officially," said Dumbledore. "Koenma cannot officially give support to a human, wizard or no, when it conflicts with another human factor. By recommending we use demon support, he risks showing favoritism that goes beyond their involvement in the human realm. If he hadn't owed me a personal favor, he couldn't have lifted a finger for or against our cause."

"That's what I don't understand," Snape scowled. "If the Reikai is forbidden from involving itself in human affairs, how is it they've sent two of their…Tantei…to us?"

Lupin looked up in surprise. "You never asked Hiei about that?"

Snape glared in silence, and Lupin gave a resigned sigh. He really should have known better. Unlike him, Snape didn't instigate actual conversation with their guests.

"They're no longer working for the Reikai," Lupin explained. "Their service to the Reikai was a condition of parole, though I'm not sure what the crime was. They served with a human pair for a few years, but it wasn't a lifetime commitment. As I understand it, they're considered criminals with amnesty. They've served their time and placed the Reikai in their debt, so even if they technically enter the human realm illegally, they're beyond Reikai control."

"Not only that," said Dumbledore. "Kurama is human according to the newest Reikai edict. They've always deported demons and magical creatures on an individual basis, but the most recent decision was that those who can fully suppress their demon influence cannot be judged as anything but human."

"And the other one?" Snape scowled.

Dumbledore gave a slow smile. "I have no idea. Koenma had very little to say about Hiei. He seemed quite uncomfortable, so I wasn't inclined to press the subject."

.-.-

Kurama stalked after Hiei, his eyes narrow and darting as he glared at the floor and ceiling of the castle halls. He could almost feel them closing in on him, creeping forward when he wasn't looking. The nerve. As if anything so mundane as human magic could catch him unaware.

"You're broadcasting," Hiei commented.

He slowed so Kurama fell into step beside him, his gaze flicking up to take note of how narrow the redhead's eyes were. "What is it?"

Kurama scowled irritably and looked away. "I haven't slept in two nights, I'm hungry, my hand hurts, and I can't stand listening to some wizard tout on while he sits back and waits for children to defeat his enemies. It's disgusting. Humans like that wouldn't last five minutes in Makai."

Hiei's eyes widened, a slow grin spreading over his face. "The full moon isn't till _next_ weekend, Kurama. If the concentrated reiki here is affecting you this much already, you'll be troublesome by then. It's good I said we'd be gone till nightfall."

"It's not the reiki," Kurama glowered, still keeping an eye on the ceiling. "It's the magic. Reiki is a ningen attribute, simple energy. This is wizardry."

"And as a quest class plant manipulator," Hiei smirked, "it's offensive to be surrounded by so much inferior manipulation, whether it's energy being manipulated, or humans. You're finally coming to your senses."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Hiei snorted, almost breaking into full laughter. "You're restless, Kurama. It's about time. I expected you to snap two weeks ago."

"I have not snapped, and I'm not about to," Kurama sniffed. He stared up at the ceiling for another minute before heaving a long sigh. "I do want out, though…"

"I thought as much," said Hiei, his tone no longer teasing. "There's a weakening in the barrier off the edge of that forest. I suspect that's where the Abadon entered from, though it isn't the way he left by. If there isn't anything on the other side that's eager to be killed, we can fight each other. You aren't the only one who hates sitting around like this."

Kurama stared, the irritable tension in his shoulders easing away. A light anticipatory tingle set up in its place. As much as he prided himself in being calm, patient, sober and collected, he was rarely so inactive. A run through the forbidden forest wasn't anything compared to stalking through the Makai. Here, he couldn't even tap his true power without causing riot among the creatures on Hogwarts grounds. Just watching him run through in fox form was enough to scare them.

"So," Kurama said, a light teasing glint striking his eyes. "I get to work off my restlessness, either by killing potential wizard-helping demons, or a simple sparring match. And you…you get to sleep without dreams. If I didn't know better, I'd think you had this planned."

Hiei snorted softly, a dark smirk twisting his lips. "I won't be sleeping unless you prove challenging enough to make me use the kokoryuuha. I doubt a restless fox is that dangerous."

"Saa," Kurama drawled mysteriously. "Only one way to know for sure…"

Hiei stopped next to a window, his gaze darting down to judge the distance to the part of the forest he'd sensed the weak spot from. He shot a quick look back at Kurama and nodded down at the damp scarf wrapped around the redhead's hand.

"Tie it around your arm and shift to fox form," said Hiei. "I can get us there quicker and bypass the animals and children. Those curiosity driven kits of yours are down there. If they see us, we'll never hear the end of it."

Kurama smirked as he tied the scarf so it would remain on his arm – leg – once he shifted. His expression was playfully doubtful. "After watching you dismember an Abadon – without a single word of it from their headmaster – I doubt anything we did would spark more gossip. Besides that, sneaking into a library is one thing. I can't imagine they'd follow us into the forest."

"Besides that," said Hiei, "it's better none of them realize we're gone. I don't trust the babysitter."

With a light laugh – mostly because he remembered how long it had taken to explain the non-literal meaning of the term '_babysitting_' to Hiei – Kurama leaned on the windowsill and shifted forms.

His tails swiped for a second before he caught himself up so he could stand in the open window. The breeze immediately struck his face, bringing unwanted scents of humans and food products along with the more pleasing smells of the forest beyond. That restless tingle lit up between his shoulder blades, and he whipped around to catch Hiei's eye.

'_How long have you known about this weak spot?'_ Kurama asked, suspicion riding his thought.

Hiei smirked and crooked his left arm so he could carry the fox without actually holding it. His jagan pulsed faintly green when he answered in turn. _'Days. I thought it would be necessary if you kept repressing yourself until the full moon. It's good that you didn't wait.'_

Kurama sniffed, his neck arched so he could stare down at the drop as Hiei crouched in the open window. _'You could have told me when you found it. It's not like I would sneak off alone when I'm supposed to be patrolling.'_

"Right," Hiei snorted, rolling his eyes. "Like I'd take a youko at his word."

A soft growl set up in Kurama's throat, and he glared back at Hiei. _'Jump already. If we aren't there in five minutes, I'm going to bite you.'_

Hiei raised an eyebrow, his expression more than a little doubtful. _'Is that a threat? You couldn't hurt me with your teeth alone.'_

'_It's not a threat,'_ Kurama huffed, shifting a little so his claws dug into Hiei's arm. _'It's a warning. I'm hungry and I want to hurt something. So if we're not there in…four and half minutes, I'll have to settle for the closest thing around. That's you.'_

"We'll be there in three minutes," said Hiei.

.-.-

Ron stumbled to a halt just outside the main doors to the castle. For a second he was sure he'd seen a black shadow flash in front of his eyes. But when he looked, there was nothing but grass, two Ravenclaw girls sitting a yard away playing wizard chess, and a lonely Hufflepuff pacing in little circles and mumbling over the open textbook in his hands. Ron rubbed his eyes, shook his head, and broke back into a quick jog.

He'd looked for nearly an hour before he'd found Harry's wand. Somehow it had wound up under the far bed, tangled in the edge of the drapes as if it really didn't want to be spotted. He imagined Neville had rolled and knocked it down there when he got up that morning. That, or it had landed on the floor and been kicked over there. Either way, Ron was just relieved to see that it was still in one piece. He'd been terrified he'd find it broken in half. Even a crack would have been enough to make Harry go ballistic on him.

Nevermind that he'd knocked it away in self-defense. No one wanted a malfunctioning wand. Having had his own wand broken, Ron knew how horrible it was. He wouldn't wish that on anyone but his most hated enemies.

Harry and Hermione were waiting for him in the light shade of a tree, the superstitions book and an unstarted game of wizard chess set up to hide the open parchment that lay before them. Ron grinned when they glanced up at him.

"Told you I'd find it," he said quickly. "I got a little sidetracked, sorry it took so long. But here it is, perfectly fine, just like I said it would be."

"Thanks," said Harry, a relieved smile breaking over his face. "Sorry I doubted you."

"That's all right," Ron waved, "you can just buy me a new broom to make up for it."

Harry blinked, his expression turning blank. Ron laughed at the look as he sat down across from him and Hermione.

"I'm kidding," said Ron. "Jeeze, like I've ever asked you for anything. Really. So! What did I miss while I was away rescuing Harry's wand from Neville's evil bed?"

Hermione shook her head with a puzzled little frown. "I'm not sure. They stayed in the room of requirment for a few minutes, then Shuuichi left. We still haven't seen Hiei."

Ron smirked at the simple way she said those two names. It had taken quite a bit of convincing before Hermione believed what they'd found out about the two strangers. Learning that Kurama really did show up as Shuuichi on the map was difficult enough for Hermione. Telling her the other one's name really was Hiei…that had about proved to be her breaking point. She'd almost walked away from them right there and then, certain they were making fun of her over the Luna incident. Luckily Ron had it on good authority that Hiei wasn't an alien. That had soothed Hermione's temper a little.

"So where are they now?" asked Ron.

Hermione glanced down at the map and choked, her eyes widening. "Oh, no…"

Harry added his own groan once he realized what she was staring at. "He's gone. It must have happened when Ron came out."

"What must have happened?" Ron frowned.

"He was in the hall," Hermione explained, her eyes searching over the map. "Just standing there for minutes, like he was talking to someone – probably the other one. But I don't see him on here at all now. Where could he have gone that quickly?"

"Maybe he's really fast like Hiei," offered Ron. "Did you check the forest?"

"He isn't on the map at all," Hermione groaned. She whipped her head back and looked around the yard, as if she'd see someone who didn't register on the map. "He couldn't have gone off the map that quickly! No one could go that far in under two minutes."

Harry stared at Hermione's frustrated face for a moment before glancing over to share a conspiratorial look with Ron. They both smirked, and Harry turned back to Hermione.

"Maybe he turned into a giant youko," said Harry. "I bet that wouldn't show on the map."

Hermione's face flushed red all the way to the tips of her ears. "Stop that! I've already told you. Even if he were part magical creature, a youko doesn't have two human forms. The book would have mentioned that."

"I don't know, Hermione," Ron said slowly, his expression fearful. "The book did say a youko could possess a human baby if it wasn't…sealed in. Maybe that Shuuichi is the body the youko uses to sneak into schools like Hogwarts. Then, when he has everyone fooled, he comes out as a giant youko and gobbles them all up!"

Harry gave an overly solemn nod, his eyes wide and worried. "That would explain why he was never seen, even though he ruled one ninth of the world."

"He must have eaten the witnesses," Ron shivered.

"I hope he's not hungry," Harry whispered.

"That's it," Ron gasped dramatically. "That's why he's not on the map! He's come out as a youko – he's probably eating students right now…!"

Hermione exploded with a hoarse cry of furious frustration. "You two…! I – I hate you two! You're so immature, I don't know why I talk to either of you!"

She jumped to her feet and whirled away, stalking off across the lawn with her robes snapping about her heels. Ron curled over his knees, shaking with laughter, and Harry gave a guilty grin.

"That was pretty mean," Harry admitted.

"Yeah," Ron grinned, "but did you see the way she shook before she blew? That was bloody genius! She's so worked up over this, it's almost too easy to get to her."

"How long you think we have before she talks to us again?" asked Harry, raising an eyebrow at Ron.

"The weekend at most," Ron scoffed. "You've got the map. She won't be able to stand not solving the mystery. She'd sooner give up on House Elf Rights than she'd ignore an unsolved question. We might as well enjoy the quiet while it lasts. Come Monday, we'll be right back in the library, just you watch."

Ron was setting up the chess board. Harry shifted his legs beneath him for a more comfortable seat as he waited.

"You know," said Harry, "I don't really mind going to the library for something like this."

Ron shot him a startled, suspicious look.

Harry grinned, waving a hand at him. "I'm not saying I want to spend the entire year in there, or that I'd admit it to Hermione if she asked me. I just like being in the middle of things. I guess I'm not used to being at Hogwarts without something strange happening around us. There's always a mystery or a menace. This time, it doesn't seem dangerous. So…it's like a chance to actually enjoy solving the problem."

"I get what you're saying," Ron admitted, shooting a quick look to make sure he wasn't overheard. "Research isn't too bad when you're not doing it because you _have_ to. I still don't see why she likes reading all the time. But stuff like this…I can almost see where she'd want to sneak out over nothing but a book."

"The only problem is that we don't seem to be solving anything," said Harry. "I mean, the books we've found so far just bring up more questions. I don't know how much more of that Hermione can take without really snapping. I'm half afraid she's going to actually go through with that Diagon Alley plan of hers."

Ron grimaced and shook his head, half of his attention on waving his knight into position for the first move of their game.

"Hermione isn't the sort to do that," scoffed Ron. "She might talk about ordering illegal books, but it's just a bluff to get us to sneak into the library with her again. Can you see her actually getting a forbidden book delivered to her at Hogwarts? I mean, they can probably expel you for something like that."

"Yeah," said Harry. "I could see her using the internet to try and look up demons, sooner than I could see her buying a forbidden book on them."

"Internet," Ron laughed, shaking his head. "You guys make up the funniest things."

Harry gave a weak smile, watching as Ron's bishop made mincemeat of his poor rook.

He didn't even bother trying to explain about computers and internet service providers again. Knowing they existed and were easy to use was one thing. Trying to explain about an invisible world - that had no physical presence aside from phoneline connections and hard drives - to someone who didn't really believe in electricity…it was futile. He might as well have tried to convince Ron that humans really had flown to the moon with nothing but machines. His friend would sooner believe in aliens than he'd believe in any usefulness coming from muggle technology.

.-.-  
TBC


	9. Demon Imps, Draco's Move

_Category:_ Harry Potter-YYH crossover  
_Warnings:_ slight violence, bit of humor  
_Author:_ Arigatomina  
_Email:_ arigatoumina (a) hotmail . com  
_Website:_ www . geocities . com / arigatomina

**Higher Learning**

_Part 9: Demon Imps; Draco's Move_

Hermione spent a good twenty minutes growling to herself in her empty dorm room, a few parchments scattered over the floor from where she'd flung herself on the bed. She'd stormed upstairs with every intention of avoiding the childish boys for the rest of the school year. It wasn't the teasing that upset her. It was hearing them joke about things she'd secretly been considering herself.

Her gaze fell to one of those loose papers, a crinkled white sheet filled with scrawling lines and cramped text that had been crossed out and rewritten in the margins, only to be scribbled out again. The arrows started from the center of the page and weaved down to connect one clump of text after another. She'd spent hours on it, hunched over one of the little tables in the Gryffindor common room until long after midnight. And then, just when she'd been torn on how to admit the idea to her friends, what did they do? They threw it right back at her like the joke she knew it was.

She knew it was ridiculous, ludicrous, impossible. She knew it was. It was a joke. It was also the only thing she'd come up with after hours of brainstorming possibilities. And now she'd never find a way to even broach the subject without Harry and Ron laughing at her.

Hermione cleaned up the room mechanically, stacking the parchments neatly and putting them back where they'd been on the foot of her bed. The scribbled page she kept and carried downstairs with her. The notes, written without the heavy hand she used when she was sure of something, were almost impossible to read, faint and sketchy, with only those scribbled out sections catching the eye. She read each one as she walked, not looking at the carpet or her target. By the time she stopped in front of the fireplace in the common room, she'd read the page of notes three times.

It still made more sense than anything else she could think of. A joke. A joke made more sense than any reasonable explanation she could come up with. What did that say for her intelligence?

She lifted the page to skim one last time.

_Kyuubi; multi-tailed fox form and too old to bother with a humanoid form, meaning he did have one – fox and humanoid form. Death – spirit sealed into a human baby. _

_Youko Kurama; multi-tailed fox form, tailed humanoid form. Death – unknown. Death – undetermined._

_Kurama (Shuuichi); multi-tailed fox form, tailed humanoid form, plus a normal human form. _

_Human baby; two spirits; sealed spirit – death, spirit not sealed – possession._

_Possession equals what? Imperius? Mind control? Death? Merger?_

_Who is Shuuichi?_

_Who was Shuuichi?_

_The map registers the body, not the spirit._

_Kurama – youko, magical creature. Shuuichi – host, human. One body registers, the others don't._

_Harry said it first. I didn't listen._

_It's preposterous._

She watched with resentful eyes as the fire turned her scribbles into crinkled soot. Even if it were true, and Harry had gotten it right from the start, they considered it a joke. Either she treated it as a joke, and they teased her by pretending it was the truth, or she admitted it might be true, and they laughed at her for being gullible.

Better to just let it go. The strangers hadn't done anything threatening. She wasn't being graded or judged on how well she solved the mystery. And honestly, she knew it wasn't worth the frustration. There were hundreds of issues, millions of things she wanted to learn about the wizarding world without getting stuck on any one unknown. Her time would be better spent investigating those transitoriums, whatever events they were, than racking her brain over Kurama's species and circumstances. As she'd told Ron, she didn't have a crush on Kurama, he'd simply sparked her curiosity.

Curiosity motivated her like nothing else could, urging her to strive for those top marks, not just to prove a mudblood could perform magic with the best of them, but to find the kinks in this age old society. It wasn't enough for her to be a good wizard, capable of casting spells too difficult for her classmates. She wanted to be a useful member of the wizarding world. Hers wasn't just motivation to understand and succeed, it was motivation to succeed in something worthwhile. That sort of reasoning made her determined to stick with her campaign for House Elf rights, one of the most blatant 'kinks' she'd found in the way wizards lived.

Harry would have been appalled to learn that she'd kept up her muggle studies during the summer, going over the same textbooks muggles her age were expected to know. Her family lived in that world, along with everyone she'd ever known before coming to Hogwarts. No matter what she was told in her Muggle Studies class, she knew wizards could learn a thing or two from muggles. Like how reprehensible slavery was, for starters. And she was just the muggle-born wizard to teach it to them…after she finished learning everything she could about wizards.

With her attention nicely diverted to those mysterious Transitoriums and righteous causes like protecting amiable house elves, who, in her opinion, were no more animals than mentally handicapped humans or eager-to-please children, Hermione set her shoulders back and left the common room. On her way out, she gave a friendly smile to the fat lady in the portrait guarding Gryffindor tower.

Now that she wasn't berating herself, or letting her brain tie itself into frustrated little knots, she was eager to settle things with Harry and Ron. They'd only been teasing her in that annoying but typical way they had. She couldn't very well call _them_ immature when if she overreacted every time they teased her.

She was nearing the stairs when she collided with someone exiting rapidly from an empty classroom. The impact threw her off balance, causing her to stumble sideways and into the opposite wall. She was startled to find herself facing off with a very angry pair of Slytherins, the last two students she'd expected, or wanted, to see in the empty hallway.

"Watch where you're going," Goyle barked, his shoulders hunching up as if he didn't already outweigh her by half a ton.

Hermione's expression settled into one of cool disdain, a façade she'd used to get out of more than one intimidation session with these particular bullies. Crabbe was curling his fists in front of him, having come out of the room to glower at her menacingly. She responded by straightening her robe and pulling her wand free where they'd be sure to see it. As dim as they were, they knew better than to start a magical confrontation with her. She might not have had Harry's gift of getting out of tight situations, but she knew more than her fair share of hexes.

"What's this?" a sly voice questioned from behind the hulking pair. Draco stepped into view and leveled an amused look at the bristling Gryffindor. "Did you bump into a mudblood, Goyle? I hope you didn't get any on you."

Crabbe had a loud, obnoxious laugh at that. Draco had started off down the hall and he hurried to follow. They made it a few steps before they realized Goyle hadn't moved.

"She was spying," Goyle accused, almost spitting the words.

Draco flinched and whipped around to send a dangerous glare at his lackey. "Let's _go_, Goyle," he said tightly.

As long as she'd known the three, Hermione couldn't remember ever having seen one of Malfoy's lackeys ignore an order. She was naturally shocked when Goyle lunged at her, snatching her wand with one hand and shoving her back into the wall with the other. The boy raised his fists with an almost maniacal gleam in his eyes, as if he wanted nothing more than to pummel her. And she had a strange idea that it wasn't personal, that he'd have had the same reaction no matter who had bumped into him. Wrong place, wrong time.

Hermione didn't try to push away from the wall. She stayed still and let her eyes snap from the furious Goyle, who seemed to be waiting for her rise and give him a reason to punch her back down, over to Malfoy, whose eyes were venomous slits in his white face. They both looked like they wanted to kill someone, but at least Malfoy's glare wasn't directed at her. A flicker of dread started in her stomach and she was suddenly very aware of how quiet the hall was.

She shot a look past Malfoy to where Crabbe was standing with blatant confusing on his mottled face. There obviously wouldn't be any help from that quarter. A glance down the other side of the hall had her breath catching in disbelief. She was so relieved to see a professor standing there, any professor, that she didn't stop to wonder how long he'd been watching the scene. She didn't even care how many points were unfairly deducted from her house.

Snape glared at the surprised, and almost happy look the Gryffindor girl shot him. He'd been hoping the situation would defuse itself, but now that Hermione had spotted him, Goyle and the others weren't far behind. He made it a point not to so much as look at Draco as he advanced toward the little group. His attention immediately centered on the wand wrapped in Goyle's fat fist.

"What were you planning to do with that wand, Mr. Goyle?" Snape inquired softly.

The boy glowered and threw the offending object onto the floor. Hermione winced at the impact. She didn't hesitate in snatching it up and checking it for cracks. Naturally distracted as she was, she was startled when Draco spoke up in a surprisingly cold voice.

"We took it from Granger," Draco stated, moving to stand beside Goyle as if the encounter had been his idea from the start. "It appeared she planned to use it. We acted in self-defense. Isn't that right, Goyle."

Goyle's head snapped up and he nodded sharply. "She started it."

Hermione was taken back by the looks the Slytherins were giving the head of their house, expressions of distaste and dislike the professor usually received from everyone _but_ Slytherins. Snape didn't seem to notice. He turned his cool stare down on her, and she straightened with a resigned frown, ready to hear how many points he deducted from Gryffindor for her having almost gotten attacked. She didn't bother to say anything in her defense, reminding herself that she could make the points up in her classes, just by correctly answering a few extra questions.

Snape almost sneered at the belligerent stare. He'd come to realize he wouldn't get any open disrespect from this student, not matter how provoked she was. And that just made him dislike her all the more. "You'd do well to watch who you pull a wand on, Miss Granger. Consider this a warning."

For one fleeting moment Hermione wondered if Snape hadn't just been lenient with her. She turned to stare after him suspiciously. It wasn't until he disappeared from sight that she realized he'd just left her alone with the Slytherins again. And from the dark, calculating look Malfoy was sending her, she'd have been better off in detention.

.-.-

Harry and Ron were well into their third game of wizard chess when a little voice started offering tips into Harry's ear. His first reaction was the most natural one possible. He jumped a foot off the ground and scattered the chess pieces all over the grass. He was rewarded by a squabble of angry sounds from above his head.

"Aren't you a rude one!" the high pitched voice cried from the shadowy foliage, its English tainted by what might have been an American accent. "I swear, that's the last time I help a wizard! I won't do it again, I won't, I won't! Rude, ungrateful, nasty wizards. Even the little ones are rude! It's all true, every bit of it!"

Ron and Harry slowly moved back to stare up at the tree with very wide eyes. Harry adjusted his glasses and considered using his wand to illuminate the shadows that voice was coming from. Instead, he cleared his throat and addressed Ron from the side of his mouth.

"It was whispering in my ear," Harry hissed, flashing a worrisome look at his friend. "Did you see what it was?"

Ron shook his head without taking his eyes off the limb he suspected the thing was hiding behind. A sharp rustle sent leaves falling onto their heads.

"Don't talk like I can't hear you," the little voice muttered, a pale something peeking out from around the limb. "And put that stick away before I hit you with it. I was invited here!"

Harry winced a little as he quickly shoved his wand back into his pocket. He cleared his throat again and addressed the creature with what he hoped was a sincere tone. "I'm sorry for jumping. You startled me. I didn't think there were any talking magical creatures here aside from the house elves."

"Magical creature? _Magical?_ You wish," came the sullen, insulted response. A quiet fluttering knocked more leaves from the tree and a tiny creature flew down to hover right in front of Harry's face. Its body was a pale grayish blue tone, the leathery wings and wispy hair just a shade darker. What really caught him by surprise was that the creature was familiar – and entirely nude. Harry blushed and leaned away. Ron didn't notice the second detail since those wings were facing him, rather than the little female's smooth…attributes.

"It's a bloody imp!" Ron blurted, goggling at the thing.

"That's right," the female chirped, her voice shifting from hostile to smug. She flashed the redhead a friendly smile over her shoulder. Then she abandoned Harry in favor of taking a perch on the cleared chess board in front of Ron. If she noticed the boy's surprise at her lack of human dress, she didn't show it.

"The name's Kiri," she said. "I'm looking for a carrot hair, a glass eyes, and a fuzzy brain. Couldn't find a smart girl I'd call fuzzy, but you two fit the other descriptions. I didn't think you'd go being rude to me when I was offering a little help. That'll teach me not to listen to my cousins about rude wizardlets."

This last bit was muttered with a sidelong look at Harry, who was too preoccupied with the 'glass eyes' description to notice. Ron took it better. For him, being called a carrot-head was as common an insult as 'weasel' – he'd been called a lot worse. If anything, he was too amused at the thought of calling Hermione a fuzzy brain to be insulted.

"You were looking for us, were you?" asked Ron. He smiled and leaned down a little so the imp wouldn't have to crane her head back to see him. "That's a real coincidence, considering we just read about your kind not more than two days ago. Even stranger since we heard demon imps were extinct…"

Kiri snorted in disdain, though it wasn't really directed at Ron in particular. "Extinct are we? Nasty wizards…"

"Hey," Harry protested, "I already apologized. I didn't insult you, I just jumped a little. That's no reason to-"

"Was I talking about you?" asked Kiri, her expression more amused than anything. "You're rude, but for a little wizard, you're not so bad."

It was rather strange to be called 'little' by something that was less than a foot tall. The boys exchanged a bemused look. Since she seemed to have taken a liking to Ron, he asked the question on both of their minds.

"Who told you about us?" asked Ron. "What made you come to Hogwarts?"

"Cousin of mine," said Kiri, "and I'm looking for a hanyou, giant mix. Name of Hagrid? I was told three wizardlets would show me to him. But I couldn't find the fuzzy brain. Does she have to be here?"

Ron muffled an involuntary snicker behind his hand. Hermione was a brain, and her hair was rather fuzzy when she wore it down. But he'd never have put the two together like that. Since he was occupied, Harry answered Kiri's question.

"We can show you to Hagrid," said Harry. "Hermione's in the castle somewhere."

"Great," Kiri chirped. "After the way you acted when I showed up, I thought you'd leave me to find him myself. Not many people with good things to say about wizards, you know. It's nice that little ones like you two are still decent. It'll be a shame when you grow up and forget that. I guess it can't be helped, though. Don't get to pick your race, now do you?"

She flashed Harry such a bright smile that he hid his doubtful expression behind a weak grin. She seemed to have a very low opinion of wizards, and the easy way she slandered them told him it was common where she came from. He could only wonder where that was, considering wizards were spread out almost everywhere.

They packed up the chess game, Kiri helping them find the smaller pieces that were hidden by the grass. She then disappeared with a quick reassurance that she would follow. She just didn't want to be spotted by the other wizardlets till she'd talked with the hanyou. The boys were silently relieved to hear that since she'd have attracted quite a bit of attention if the other students saw her flittering around overhead.

Ron took to watching the sky, curious to see where she was hiding when they crossed the open yard. It wasn't until they neared Hagrid's hut that he spotted a pale flicker in the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. He and Harry approached the edge, getting close enough so she'd hear them, but not close enough to get eaten by any creatures hiding in the shadows. He'd just opened his mouth when she shot a startled look past him and disappeared.

Harry glanced over his shoulder and straightened at the sight of the students approaching them. He had his wand in his hand immediately, Ron following suit a few seconds later.

"No need for that," Draco said smoothly. "We're here to have a little talk with you, Potter. If you care to follow, I'm sure you'll find it very interesting. It concerns your pet mudblood. I'm sure you've noticed her absence by now…?"

The blonde boy passed them with a taunting look that wasn't nearly as obvious as Crabbe and Goyle's smug sneers. Ron paled, and Harry stiffened so much he nearly snapped his wand in his fist. The two turned to stare at the three Slytherins, watching them enter the forest so slowly it was clear they expected to be followed. After a few seconds of sharp, angry silence, Harry and Ron did just that.

Draco didn't stop until he'd reached a small clearing that was far enough from the yard to suit him, but not so far that they'd be unable to escape if something attacked them. He wasn't the least bit surprised to see that the Gryffindors had taken the bait. The entire house was filled with would-be heroes, but Potter was particularly bad about it. There hadn't been any question of whether or not he'd follow.

The first thing Harry noticed was that Malfoy's lackeys weren't visible until he'd actually entered the clearing. He wasn't surprised to see them step out to block the way he and Ron had come in. But since he still had his wand in hand, he wasn't worried, either. Ron, on the other hand, looked rather peaked, his face flushed with anger and pale with worry. The mix simply didn't go with his freckled complexion.

"What did you do?" Harry asked coldly.

Draco's lips curved into a darkly amused smile. "_I_ didn't do a thing. The mudblood was the one who didn't know when to keep her wand out of sight. Rather like you, isn't she? If you want to know where she is, I suggest you put that away. Better yet…"

Crabbe stalked toward Harry with a hand out as if he expected him to hand over his weapon. Harry snorted and waved the wand at the boy, causing the coward to halt in surprise.

"You're not getting my wand," Harry scoffed. He shoved it into his pocket and turned back to glaring at Malfoy. Ron's hands were shoved into his own pockets, so between them they were as prepared as they would have been with their wands visible.

"Well?" prodded Harry. "You said you wanted to talk, _Malfoy_."

"I lied," said Draco.

Harry had barely pulled his wand free when Draco's hex hit him. He let out a choked breath, his arms and legs stiffening till he tipped over like nothing so much as a felled tree. Ron cast a spell at Draco, but it flew wild. Crabbe and Goyle had lunged forward to catch his arms. Between them, they easily restrained him. Draco didn't even need to dodge.

"Nicely done," Draco nodded, his lackeys grinning in response.

That incident in the hall had been dangerous for him, hinting at how things would go if he ever lost control of either Crabbe or Goyle. But he'd made up for that by taking the blame in front of the 'traitor'. Not only had he kept his cool, but he had – in Goyle's eyes – protected him by putting himself in the line of fire. Thanks to that, this little ruse was child's play.

Draco crossed to the struggling Weasely and plucked the boy's wand free. He dropped it onto the grass and nodded to Goyle. The Slytherin promptly put Ron into a choke hold that kept his head from moving. Harry was making muffled sounds from where he'd fallen. While he couldn't exactly move, he was very aware of the situation. Draco casually lowered his wand so it was aimed at the prostrate boy.

"Accio map."

Harry's eyes bulged, and Ron was so surprised he stopped struggling against the suffocating hold the Slytherins had on him. There was a faint fluttering in Harry's robe, then the Marauder's Map floated over to Draco's hand. The blonde boy stared down at it with a quiet frown, the tip of his wand ghosting over the seemingly blank parchment. After a moment he grimaced and shot Ron a distasteful glower. Goyle promptly tightened his arm around the redhead's neck.

"Want me to beat it out of him?" Goyle asked eagerly.

Ron's face went white behind his freckles, which, in Draco's opinion, was a good look for him. As much as he would have liked to see how long it really took to make a Gryffindor spill his guts, he didn't have all day. Draco stepped forward and caught Ron's eyes as he cast a spell he'd seldom had reason to use. It was a very...distasteful sort of spell. He'd practiced it so much on Crabbe and Goyle that he knew more about the two idiots than anyone in his right mind wanted to know. Having to use it on a Weasely? He'd sooner have kissed a Hufflepuff.

The spell Draco cast was spoken so quietly Ron couldn't quite make it out. The effect reminded him sharply of the Imperius curse Moody had cast on them their fourth year, only instead of separating from his sense of self and becoming distant, he separated from his sense of reality. One moment he was staring warily into Draco's eyes and the next he was bombarded by random memories. It was as if everything he'd done in the last week was replaying in his mind, broken by glimpses of much older memories from his childhood as the youngest male in a very crowded house. Those were brief and painful, but his mind jumped out of them seconds after they started, too quick for him to lodge a mental protest at having to relive the scenes.

The confusing images faded into a single scene, the darkened library as Harry crouched and checked his map for the unidentified thing at the end of the hallway. Ron watched with wary curiosity, the same as he had the first time he'd lived the scene. It wasn't until Harry spoke the password that Ron realized what was happening. He tried to push the memory away, to do whatever it was that had let Harry fight the Imperius curse in that Defense class. All he managed was a desperate litany of no's. He was still chanting the word in his mind when reality crept back to him.

He was panting over his knees and sweat dripped into his eyes when he forced them open to stare blearily at the grass beneath him. A furious sound was coming from his left, but it seemed to take a huge amount of effort to turn his head and find out what it was. His vision cleared enough for him to make out Harry, still immobilized and stiff, but making a muffled 'nn!' sound that was clearly an attempt to say his name. Ron groaned and crushed a hand over his face.

"Bloody hell...! Harry, I'm so sorry. He got the password! I don't know how he did it, but-"

That 'nn' sound was repeated loudly, Harry's eyes staring hard at him, then flicking over to the two wands lying placidly in the grass between them. Ron jumped a little. He hurried to undo the hex, surprising himself at how well he stood when his legs felt like mush.

"Egh!" Harry blurted, stretching his jaw and rubbing a hand over his cheek where grassy impressions had made for an itchy green stain. "Remind me never to leave anyone with petrificus totalus. I'm surprised Neville forgave Hermione after she used it on him that time. Who knows how long he was stuck that way..."

"Harry," Ron scowled. "I'd rather not remind you why you should be yelling at me right now, but I just said Malfoy got the password - for the map. Whatever he hit me with, it made me remember all this stuff and you saying the password was the last thing. Who knows what that wart plans to do with the Marauder's Map."

Harry shook his head. He was still wincing from the painful awakening of previously stiff limbs - his legs being the most vocal whiners of the lot - and his expression was painful when he glanced up at Ron. "I don't care what he plans to do with it. We can get it back later. Don't you think we have something a little more important to be worried about right now? We didn't find out what they did with Hermione..."

"Bloody hell...," Ron said again, his face twisted as if he'd been punched in the gut. "Can this day get any worse?"

"Let's not find out," Harry retorted.

They helped each other up, neither being exactly light on his feet. Then they bolted out of the forest, their wands ready in their hands and their thoughts centered on the fact that Malfoy and his thugs couldn't be too far ahead of them. They'd just crashed out of the underbrush when a flapping, chittering Kiri flew into Harry's face. Her exclamations came so quickly they sounded more like bird chirps than English words.

"Not now," said Harry, waving the imp off. "I don't care if it's rude, we don't have time to play with you."

"Play?" Kiri screeched.

"Really, Harry, is that any way to speak to an endangered species?"

That lightly condescending and lecturing tone was unmistakable. Harry and Ron gaped and ducked past the outraged imp, their exclamations drowning out anything Hermione might have said. She snapped her mouth closed and stared at her seemingly insane friends as they circled her, Ron giving her a poke on the shoulder and laughing when he found her solid enough.

"Have the two of you completely lost your minds?" asked Hermione, her tone just a little exasperated. "What's wrong with you? And stop poking me, Ron! Honestly. You don't just run up to a girl and start poking her."

Ron's ears flushed red and he quickly stepped away, his hands curled behind his back. His scowl was weak at best. "It's Hermione, all right."

"Of course it's me," scoffed Hermione, with a perplexed frown. "Kiri came to find me. She said you'd been cornered by dark wizards...!"

"Malicious," Kiri piped in, "I said malicious wizardlets. They weren't dark at all, especially the smart one. He was light and bright, brain-bright, not that he glowed."

"Right," Hermione said slowly. She stared at the odd imp for a moment before turning back to Harry and Ron.

"It was Malfoy," said Harry. "He gave some story about...he tricked us. Tricked us to get the map."

"And we jumped right in to play heroes, just like always," Ron groaned. "Bloody hell..."

Harry twitched and sent his friend an irritated scowl. "Would you stop saying that?"

"Both of you stop," said Hermione, her tone just a little sharp. "Malfoy has the map? Does he know how to use it?"

"He knows, all right," Ron blurted, "I'd say he knows. He took it right out of my head. I had a _Malfoy_ in my _head_...!"

The boy's theatrics didn't quite elicit sympathy from Harry, who'd figured out what spell Malfoy had used on Ron. He looked away. "At least it wasn't a Snape..."

Eight yards and a dimension away from the group, another confrontation had met with an equally anti-climactic end. A slight detour through the trunk of a seemingly normal tree in the Forbidden Forest opened up to a foreign landscape. The trees here were sparse and twisted, fireproof gray-blue bark clashing with blackened leaves. The ground was ashy and torn in places, deep furrows plowed down to reveal bones and creeping shadows that peeked at the gray sky before ducking back into their subterranean nests. The only movement in the mile-wide circumference of post-battle destruction came from a pale figure, who sat calmly combing tangles out of his silver tail.

Kurama was in a very good mood. He was sporting some new scrapes and burns to go with his injured palm, minuscule damage compared to his poor plants. If he hadn't enjoyed expending waves of excess youki, he'd have felt guilty for sending some of his favorite seeds into untimely, ashy, deaths. Unfortunately for his plants, he and Hiei hadn't found more than a handful of weak demons in the area, most of whom had run for cover the moment they stepped through the barrier and into the Makai. That had left them with little option but to spar, and while Kurama did enjoy a challenge, he'd been looking forward to terrorizing a few cocky demons, preferably ones who didn't recognize him on sight.

He finished grooming his silky tail and let it curl beside him in the soft grass he'd grown after the match. It wouldn't matter when he eventually shifted back to his human body, but he disliked getting his hair dusty and tangled. There was nothing more outlandish than an unkempt youko. This thought would have brought a snort if he'd said it out loud, providing his partner had been awake to hear it. Kurama started on his hair and sent an amused look over at Hiei.

The demon had managed to fall straight back when he'd passed out, the result of having used his ultimate attack one time too often. Kurama had been nice enough to plan that the moment the match started, conning Hiei to use his dragon against his plants, and then on himself so they could engage in more tactile combat. He considered it nice on his part because they'd both known who would win in a physical confrontation, without fire or plants to do the fighting for them. Kurama had lost just badly enough to annoy him, an irritation that was soothed the moment Hiei pitched over in a dead sleep. It was difficult to remain angry with someone who couldn't stay awake long enough to finish his victory taunts.

Kurama let out a quiet chuckle at Hiei's expense. The sound startled the ugly green bur that had been dozing near Hiei's wrist. Its scratchy voice was almost as nasty as its appearance.

"Whatever you're planning, you can just keep to yourself. I know your kind."

Kurama's pale golden eyes flicked over to glare at the parasite. "Watch your tongue or I'll remove it for you."

"Urk!"

The little trollish imp glowered at him and ducked lower behind Hiei's arm, using the black cloth as a shield. Kurama let out an annoyed sigh and forced his gaze away. The thing had shown up right in the middle of their fight, interrupting them long enough for Hiei to get a devious idea. They'd heard from one of the professors that the girl, Hermione, had asked about demon imps. Naturally Hiei had jumped at the opportunity to pick on Kurama's 'pet'. The only reason Kurama was tolerating the ugly imp's presence was because it had sent one of its cousins to Hogwarts. They hadn't figured out a plan to replace the giant's geezard, and Hiei had thought it a funny idea to send an illegal creature over to act as translator - and problem causer. The little female probably would be able to find a rare creature for the class, but she was also bound to cause a mess of trouble if the wizarding society learned of her presence at the school. That was why Hiei liked the idea. Kurama hadn't found a good enough reason to dissuade him from his plan. And that, his inability to dissuade Hiei when he made his devious little mind up, was the very reason he hated that ugly imp.

"Don't you glare over here," the thing growled, its voice sounding more afraid than threatening. "I know what you're thinking."

Kurama gritted his teeth and focused intensely on combing his fingers through his hair, undoing imaginary tangles and reminding himself why he couldn't just kill the annoying imp. He hadn't seen the thing since Hiei had tried to take over the human world with an army of zombies. He'd never cared for the creature, always whispering in Hiei's ear, encouraging him to do any evil thought that sprang into his already devious mind, daring to mock Youko Kurama, as if Kurama wouldn't kill him so long as he was sitting on Hiei's shoulder. And it had been right - he hadn't killed it, despite all of the incentive he'd been given through those annoying taunts. That had been years ago, though. He hadn't expected to see the creature again. This time, he'd make certain it didn't attach itself to Hiei for another foolish world-domination attempt. Hiei was devious enough on his own, without an imp giving him ideas.

A prickle of energy in the air made Kurama's ears twitch and his eyes flick up to the sky. Sure enough, the air shimmered prettily and a familiar blue-haired girl appeared, seated sidesaddle on her floating oar. Kurama was happy to notice that the imp disappeared before the ferrygirl had fully crossed from the Reikai to the Makai. It was a wanted criminal, so it couldn't very well be spotted by a Reikai worker.

Botan flashed a weak smile at Kurama and hurried to land near him. She looked very uncomfortable, and more than a little worried about her surroundings. Kurama understood. The girl had rarely been to the Makai, never without Koenma as her escort. For her to come alone, it was probably important. She didn't act like it, though. Her first words were playful. She gave a cute lecture about playing on the 'job' and smiled at how 'cute' Hiei was when he slept. It wasn't until Kurama politely asked her why she'd come that she grew serious.

"We've had an increase in youkai sneaking into the Ningenkai," said Botan, her pink eyes wide and worried. "Koenma-sama said to warn you. And to remind you that if that dark wizard-"

"Voldemort," Kurama supplied.

"Right," Botan nodded sharply. "If that Voldemort wizard gathers youkai to his aid, and uses them to attack other wizards, we could see a repeat of the old youkai-wizard wars. And if _that_ happens, the wizards will probably try to clean up the Makai itself - if they decide the Reikai can't keep the two separate. And if **_that_** happens - the youkai will defend themselves! But - but if they _do_ defend themselves -"

"Then," Kurama finished, "they'll be at risk not only from wizards, but from the Reiaki, as well. As it is the Reikai's first duty to protect human life, humans being the naturally weaker species."

"Right!" Botan gasped, her eyes as wide as Koenma's had been when he'd told her what to report. "And whether the Reikai can fend the youkai off, or not, the two realms will slip into chaos and the barrier itself will crumble!"

Kurama gave a fond smile and shook his head at the overly dramatic ferrygirl. "Botan, Koenma already gave us that warning when he first asked us to take the assignment. Did you want to tell us about anything other than the increase in youkai migration?"

"Nope," Botan chirped, smiling brightly. "Have fun! I'll pop by the next time I see you guys here. Can't go showing up at that wizard school, you know."

She lifted smartly and ducked back into the same shimmering portal she'd entered from. Kurama shook his head once she was gone. He wasn't really surprised that Koenma had asked her to repeat his dire warnings. What surprised him was that Botan had memorized it exactly - what she'd said was word for word the speech Koenma had given them over a month ago. And it wasn't anything he didn't already know.

The real reason Kurama and Hiei had agreed was because they trusted their own abilities. If they'd left the task to someone else, and that group failed, they would be involved eventually - all demons would be. Their best chance was to have control of the situation themselves. And Kurama knew that Koenma didn't like the rules anymore than the demons did, so he'd placed them in a position to 'save' themselves, where technically the Reikai couldn't. Since Koenma had become friends with Yusuke, he'd learned how hypocritical and biased it was to have absolute rules against demons, without similar rules regarding humans. Unfortunately for all of them, Enma made the rules, not his son.

There was one thing about Botan's message that did surprise Kurama. She hadn't said anything about the weak spot in the barrier they'd come through. Koenma surely knew it was there. He'd had his new tantei and his special task forces locking down all weaknesses in the barrier as soon as they spotted them, hoping to keep any more demons from passing through. Botan's report told him that they were having trouble finding all the weak sections - no surprise there - and that Koenma was intentionally keeping this one open. But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. With the weak spot near Hogwarts being the one unwatched area, they could concentrate the migration to a point where Kurama and Hiei could monitor it themselves. If Voldemort did attempt to bring more demons into the human world, he'd have to do it right in front of them.

"Scowling again, eh? Not looking over here, though, that's good. Planning to kill something, are you? Going to watch it squirm, right? Yeah, I know what you're thinking. It's all over that prissy face of yours."

Kurama's tail bristled at the return of that annoying voice. He clenched his teeth and rubbed the back of a clawed hand over his eyes. Then he whipped his head around to send one very deadly glare at the imp. "Why did you come back here? Do you _want_ to die an excruciating death?"

"Right," the imp mocked, his airy tone belied by the way he ducked behind Hiei's arm, once more hiding while he made his taunts. "I'm not afraid of a sissy youko like you. Miss your ningen mommy, don't you? Pansy-dog likes to talk big, but it's all talk. You're all yip and no bite."

The dark green imp curled in on himself, chortling so heavily he fell over Hiei's arm to roll in the grass. Unlike females of the species, he had no wings to stop his stubby body from rocking around like a stuffed sausage. And just like two years ago, he had a knack for infuriating Kurama without any real fear of retaliation. The only new aspect to his 'make fun of the youko' act was that he seemed to have forgotten his 'protector' was currently asleep.

Kurama's furious glare softened into a sly, evil smirk. His tail flicked as he quietly eased into a crouch. "Oi, kisama. Do you know what I've wondered since the first time I saw you? If you could possibly taste as ugly as you look. What do you say we find out? I can always throw you up afterward."

"N-nani?" The imp jerked upright, its beady eyes bulging at the large, sharp-toothed canine looming over him. It took an instant for Kurama to shift forms. It took another instant for him to pounce. Luckily for the imp, he only needed an instant to get the hell out of there.

Kurama's jaws snapped shut on empty air, his golden eyes glowing with amusement. He'd never have profaned his body by consuming something so ugly, but the stupid imp wouldn't have known that. He fell back on his haunches and gave into a smug, canine grin. After a few minutes it was apparent the imp wouldn't be 'popping' back for a while. He lay down with his forepaws and head resting on Hiei's chest, just in case. The imp didn't give off much youki. This way, he could doze without it being able to get anywhere near Hiei.

While Kurama would have liked to kill it, he knew Hiei found the thing useful. It was better for all three of them if the imp cut him a wide swath in the near future. If the impudent creature showed its face near him again, he had every intention of feeding it to a baby death tree. That way, he could honestly tell Hiei he hadn't killed it, and he'd never have to put up with it again. As small as the imp was, a baby death tree could feed on it for years without causing death. And when it eventually did die, it would be from malnutrition and dehydration, not from murder.

Kurama dozed off with his tails flicking at the tips, and dreamed of justifiable torture in the name of preserving a youko's reputation.

.-.-  
TBC

notes-  
Kiri is mine, modeled partly after the little 'imp' in Nightwalker. The unnamed male imp is the tiny 'oni-like' demon that helped Hiei spy on Yusuke and Keiko, when Hiei was first introduced to YYH. I imagine he annoyed the heck out of Kurama, at least as much as Gouki did.

Next part, Draco makes his second move, and Lupin teaches the scooby gang a new trick


End file.
